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Women of the Bible 







MIRIAM AND HER MAIDENS IN 

By William Hensel 


TRIUMPH 





Women of the Bible 

THEIR SERVICES IN 
HOME AND STATE 


BY 

ANNIE RUSSELL MARBLE 



A 

) 



THE CENTURY CO. 

NEW YORK & LONDON 






Copyright, 1923, by 
The Century Co. 



^ ^L.OO 

Printed in U. S. A. 

DEG -5*23 


Cl A 7 6 5 2 31 

^ j ^ 


>• 

£ 


To 

L. CLARK SEELYE, D.D., LL.D. 

PRESIDENT OF SMITH COLLEGE: 1873-1910 

WHOSE GUIDANCE INSPIRED HIS STUDENTS 
TO LOVE THE BIBLE AND HIGH IDEALS, 
WHOSE FRIENDSHIP HAS BEEN A 
BENEDICTION IN THEIR LIVES : 


THIS BOOK IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED 


/ 


PREFACE 


These chapters are an inadequate expression 
of many years of Bible study and teaching, and 
of the pleasurable incentive given to such re¬ 
search by a class of young women. No attempt 
is made to discuss, or even to suggest, any 
theological questions nor to stress any doctrinal 
creeds. The effort of the author has been to 
vitalize women who are mentioned in biblical 
literature, as fully as is possible from historical 
sources and sympathetic imagination. Some 
of them belong to definite periods of history; 
others are, perhaps, creations of myth and 
poetic story. Whatever may be the type, it 
has been the purpose of this book to make them 
somewhat more real and to accentuate their 
humanity in its relation to their own times and 
to ours. Less familiar biblical references and 
quotations from other sources are cited in the 
Notes and Bibliography. 

The author would express thanks to the 
editors of “The Congregationalist” for permis- 

vii 


PREFACE 


• • • 
vm 

sion to reprint certain portions of these chap¬ 
ters. Thanks are given to the librarians in New 
York, Boston, and Worcester, and at Williams 
College, who have assisted the author in re¬ 
search. Deep appreciation is due to the helpful 
services of Rev. Robert W. McLaughlin, D.D., 
in revision of text. To the publishers, Hough¬ 
ton, Mifflin Company, Dodd, Mead & Company, 
Charles Scribner’s Sons, King-Richardson Co., 
Harcourt, Brace & Co., and Boni & Liveright, 
acknowledgment is made for permission to use 
literary extracts as noted in the text. 

Annie Russell Maeble. 

Worcester, Massachusetts, 

October 1,1923. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I Introduction j The Story of Eve .... 3 

II The Hebrew Woman in Her Home ... 10 

III Wives of the Bible: Some of Them Were 

Wise and Some Were Foolish .... 42 

IV Mothers in Israel. 110 

V Women in Patriotic and Religious Service . 164 

VI Friends and Co-Workers. 224 

Bibliography.293 

Index . ..*,.309 







ILLUSTRATIONS 


Miriam and her maidens in triumph . . Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Jephthah’s daughter.36 

Deborah, a prophetess.72 

Hannah, Eli and the infant Samuel.138 

Salome, daughter of Herodias.160 

Ruth gleaning in the field of Boaz.188 

Ahab and Jezebel.230 

The charity of Dorcas.286 








WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


I 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


CHAPTER I 

introduction; the story of eve 

W OMEN of the Bible—not Heroines nor 
Martyrs—are the subjects of these stud¬ 
ies. Some of them have been revered as saints; 
others have been acknowledged as sinners. 
Some of them have been called “wise women’’; 
others have been examples of sinful foolish¬ 
ness : contrast Deborah and Huldah with 
Zeresh, wife of Haman, and Gomer, wife of 
Hosea. A few of these women bore large share 
in political and religious crises; the majority of 
them were home-makers, sometimes in nomadic 
tents, sometimes in walled cities. Through 
modern eyes, with historic background, we 
would seek to visualize certain types and indi¬ 
viduals of “the eternal feminine” as recorded 
in biblical history, legend, song, and story. 
Seeking to avoid the too general mistake of 

“reading back” into their lives the standards 

3 



4 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


and customs of far later periods, we would 
recognize their essential qualities of woman¬ 
hood, with varied environment, in the days of 
clans and prophets, in the time of one monarchy 
and the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, 
in the lifetime of Jesus and his apostles. 

Among these women were heroic patriots, like 
Miriam, Deborah, Esther, and Judith; their suc¬ 
cessors have been Joan of Arc, Florence Night¬ 
ingale, and Edith Cavell. Some of these women 
—like Abigail, wife of David, and the Shunam- 
mite friend of Elisha, like Anna, the aged 
prophetess, and Priscilla, the co-worker with 
Paul—possessed 

The reason firm, the temperate will, 

Endurance, foresight, strength and skill. 

Other women of Hebrew history were domi¬ 
nated by evil impulses, and their names have be¬ 
come signals of social menace—Jezebel and 
Athaliah, Delilah and Herodias. To “the young 
man void of understanding ,’ 1 the “clamorous 
and wilful woman” of the old proverb-maker is 
still “in the streets, now in the broad places, and 
lieth in wait at every comer.” It is as true to¬ 
day, as it was a thousand years before Jesus 
came, that “A worthy woman is the crown of 



INTRODUCTION; THE STORY OF EVE 5 

her husband. But she that maketh ashamed is 
as rottenness in his bones.’’ 

In history of past and present, there are 
records of scores of women of strong influence 
for good or evil; there are millions of “just 
ordinary women,” as they have been called in 
depreciation;—mothers, wives, sisters, daugh¬ 
ters, nurses, friends, and co-workers—who have 
formed the sure, potent background of home and 
state among primitive and civilized peoples. 
They have seemed negative and inarticulate, in 
contrast with their more pronounced “sisters”; 
but, like so many of the finest things in life, they 
have been “revealed in expressive silence.” In 
biblical narrative, brief space has been accorded 
some of these faithful, “ordinary” women, like 
Leah and Jochebed, like Deborah, the nurse of 
Rebekah, and “Naaman’s little maid,” like Dor¬ 
cas and Lydia and “the elect lady”; but their 
quiet influence, in varied forms of service, can¬ 
not be lightly regarded by thoughtful mothers, 
teachers and social workers of the twentieth 
century. 

“The perfect woman” belongs to the realm 
of poetry; her photography is as idealistic in 
the thirty-first chapter of Proverbs as it is in the 
familiar lines by Wordsworth. Super-men and 


6 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


super-women are neither alluring nor convinc¬ 
ing, in modern judgment. To the Hebrew 
writers, woman was often difficult to interpret; 
even to our own day she is sometimes called ‘ 1 an 
unsolved riddle.” Much of the difficulty arises 
from the effort to differentiate too strongly the 
two sexes. While it is true that “male and 
female created He them,” yet humanity, with its 
mixed good and evil, with its contradictions and 
varied aspirations, is the basic quality of men 
and women alike. It will be the effort of these 
pages to reveal the Hebrew father and mother, 
son and daughter, in domestic and racial traits, 
emphasizing the general influences of the women 
in education, household management, hospi¬ 
tality, prophetic inspiration, and industry, dur¬ 
ing periods of moral and religious elevation and 
decline. 


The Story of Eve 

The Hebrews delighted in stories and myths. 
They have often been called, in history, “the 
childlike race.” To the legendary and mythical 
tales, told to generations of children from the 
folk-lore of Egypt, Chaldea, and other primitive 
peoples, they gave a new meaning, a racial inter- 


INTRODUCTION; THE STORY OF EVE 7 

pretation, blending the spiritual with the sensu¬ 
ous. Just as they appropriated the tribal god, 
Yahweh, and extended his dominance of mingled 
severity and benignity over their increasing 
clans, so they adapted many of the ancient 
legends to their own early history, and used 
them as moral and religious lessons. It is im¬ 
possible to locate, chronologically, some of these 
old-time stories that were “written down” by 
later scribes, but we may easily imagine the 
reiteration of the tales of Eve and Adam, of 
Noah and the ark, of Samson and David, of Sol¬ 
omon and the Queen of Sheba. 

However one may prefer to interpret the old 
story of Eve, w 7 hether as myth, allegory, or ser¬ 
mon, Eve is Woman. As the Hebrew writers 
have retold this story of “the first man and 
woman in the garden,” they have portrayed in 
Eve many of the generic qualities of woman¬ 
hood through the ages. She is alluring and per¬ 
suasive ; she is curious and ambitious for knowl¬ 
edge and possession. She is guided by intui¬ 
tions, not by reason. She paid the price of her 
impulses as the repentant wife, the burden-bear¬ 
ing Mother of All Living. She paid the price of 
her venturesome defiance of fixed laws just as 
her modern daughters, in real life, fiction, and 


8 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


drama, have suffered the penalties of disobedi¬ 
ence of accepted standards. In the character 
of Eve, in Bible story and Milton’s adaptation 
in “Paradise Lost,” one recognizes womanhood 
with strong, elemental desires, with compelling 
ambition, but also with faith that this ambition, 
gratified, would increase her usefulness to man: 

not death, but life 

Augmented, opened eyes, new hopes, new joys, 

Taste so divine, that what of sweet before 
Hath touched my sense, flat seems to this and harsh. 
On my experience, Adam, freely taste 
And fear of death deliver to the winds. 

Raphael, in his “Consequences of the Fall,” has 
created an Eve that is not romantic but weary at 
the spinning-wheel, while Adam is tilling the 
soil “amid thorns and thistles.” The modern 
doctrine of work, as a “blessing not a doom/’ 
the eager response to the challenge to conquer 
and to utilize all elements of earth, air, and sea, 
tend to reduce our sentimental pity for these ex¬ 
iles from the Garden of the Gods. The chas¬ 
tening of Eve’s character, through travail and 
anxiety, seems to be dramatic and spiritual com¬ 
pensation. In the story of this primal woman, 
as in the life-stories of to-day, there is the ques¬ 
tion of justice: why was Eve more severely re- 


INTRODUCTION; THE STORY OF EYE 9 

proached, more heavily punished than Adam? 
The “double standard” of judgment upon man 
and woman for offenses existed in the mythical 
days of Eve; it has not been changed wholly by 
the centuries of advancement toward sex equal¬ 
ity. The Eve of the third chapter of Genesis 
was not a slave of man but his equal in privi¬ 
leges and responsibilities. Here is a composite 
picture of young womanhood with its daring and 
zeal, of maturity with its mingled experiences of 
pain, sorrow, and service—a picture that is es¬ 
sentially true of womanhood of every century. 



I 



CHAPTER II 

THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 

T O the Hebrew woman “home” was a word 
of deep affection and significance. This 
was true, in general, from the days of the pio¬ 
neer nomad, Abraham, and his wife, Sarah, who 
emigrated from the valley of the Euphrates into 
Palestine some time between 3000 and 2000 b.c., 
to the later eras of cities and villages, with 
their sharp social distinctions in Christa time. 
The foundation of the Hebrew nation rested 
upon family life, in spite of periods of excessive 
polygamy and outside, demoralizing influences. 
As one reads the Bible stories and records, or 
the Apocrypha, Josephus, and other early nar¬ 
rators of Hebrew history, one receives a firm 
impression that Hebrew women shared with the 
men in the privileges as well as the dangers and 
responsibilities of the life of the household, 
tribe, or walled city. In the earlier period, when 
the Hebrew immigrants, seeking better pastur¬ 
age and wider opportunities, left their kinsfolk, 

10 



THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 11 


the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites, and 
immigrated into Palestine, living in caves and 
tents, their life was unlike that of the average 
“ caveman’’ and ‘ ‘ cavewoman.’’ Mutual re¬ 
spect and administration of the home are sug¬ 
gested in the patriarchal family of Abraham and 
Sarah. Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel 
were 1 ‘married lovers’’ during the years of 
primitive and pastoral life. Granted that later 
narrators have touched these early portraits 
with romance, granted always that the women 
were of Oriental standards and untrained 
minds, yet the status of women during these 
pioneer times seems to have surpassed, in 
many ways, that among the Babylonians and 
Chaldeans; it was more akin to that of the 
Egyptian women. 

During the period of the clans before and 
after the Exodus, following the uncertain period 
of bondage in Egypt, children often bore the 
names of the mother’s family rather than the 
father’s; there were clans of Leah and Rachel, 
of their handmaids, Zilpah and Bilhah. Names 
of mothers, as well as fathers, were given in the 
genealogy of the kings of Judah and Israel. 
Mothers seemed to have priority of choice in the 
names of children. I. J. Peritz cites statistics 


12 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


thus: “of forty-four cases of naming children 
in the Old Testament, four were ascribed to God, 
fourteen to men and twenty-six to women.” 
The stories of Abraham’s protection of Sarai 
in Egypt, from the lustful admiration of the 
king—and its reiteration in the recital of Isaac 
and Rebekah—are in marked contrast w r ith the 
custom of certain Arabian nomads, continued to 
later times, when a husband of a beautiful wife 
would place her and her tent at the disposal of 
his guest. The honor of women, especially in 
the days of pastoral life and tribal leadership, 
was maintained. It has pleased biblical narra¬ 
tors to emphasize the beauty of the Hebrew 
maidens and matrons. 

Sarah was “very fair to look upon”; Re¬ 
bekah is described in the same words, and 
Rachel “was beautiful and well favored”; 
Tamar, the unfortunate daughter of David, 
aroused the passions of her brother by her 
beauty, just as Bath-sheba had ensnared the 
lust of her father, King David. 

In the days of the judges and the kings, the 
home did not lose its vital influence. Deborah, 
prophetess and military leader, was mentioned 
first as wife. The Shunammite woman, whose 
care and foresight sustained Elisha in his days 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 13 


of travel and service, was a model executive in 
her home, caring for the health and comfort of 
her household and the prophet. Abigail, wife 
of the churlish Nabal, and later wife of David, 
was the acknowledged administrator of a large 
estate, with thousands of sheep and goats, with 
stores of grain and raisins and figs. When 
David threatened retribution for Nabal’s ugly 
inhospitality, the young serving-man appealed 
to his mistress; “Now therefore know and con¬ 
sider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined 
against our master, and against all his house: 
for he is such a worthless fellow, that one cannot 
speak to him.” There are suggestions of the 
congenial home and affection of husband and 
wife in the lives of the prophets Isaiah and 
Ezekiel; by contrast is the symbolic but forceful 
picture of the tragedy due to the infidelity of 
Gomer, wife of Hosea. In the New Testament 
story, the home is in the foreground: the home 
of Joseph and Mary at Nazareth, the marriage 
at Cana, the practical comforts and spiritual 
comradeship of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus at 
Bethany, and the inspiring, helpful atmosphere 
of that “abode” of Paul at Corinth, with Aquila 
and Priscilla, tent-makers and Christian 
teachers. 


14 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Periods of Domestic Decadence and 

Polygamy 

Without question women were more highly 
regarded in the earlier days of clans and the 
later time of Christ than in the intervening 
periods of domestic decadence. Sometimes this 
lapse was due to excess of wealth and large 
harems, sometimes to intermarriage with hea¬ 
then wives, sometimes to voluptuous influences 
which preceded the Captivity under Nebuchad¬ 
nezzar in 586 b.c., or to the rigid laws and lax 
morals among the Pharisees just before the 
coming of Jesus. Never were women treated 
with such chivalry and intellectual respect as 
by the Great Teacher of Christianity; his words 
and acts have created a status for world wom¬ 
anhood which has reacted upon the Jewish do¬ 
mestic life, as well as that of other nations. 

Hebrew women brought upon themselves 
many of the evidences of social decadence by 
their idleness, vanity, and loose morals. Isaiah, 
who knew well the women of wealth and station 
in the days of Uzziah, Ahaz, Jotham, and Heze- 
kiah, kings of Judah, sounded his challenge: 
“Rise up, ye women that are at ease, and hear 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 15 


my voice; ye careless daughters, give ear unto 
my speech. For days beyond a year shall ye 
be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage 
shall fail, the ingathering shall not come. . . . 
They shall smite upon the breasts for the pleas¬ 
ant fields, for the fruitful vine.” With more 
vehemence did Amos, the herdsman prophet, 
and Hosea of the city, in the same general pe¬ 
riod, upbraid the women of Judah and Israel for 
their excessive vanity and lewdness: ‘‘They 
sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and 
burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and pop¬ 
lars and terebinths, because the shadow thereof 
is good: therefore your daughters play the har¬ 
lot, and your brides commit adultery.” To 
Isaiah we are indebted for one of the most in¬ 
teresting, detailed pictures of the vain women of 
his day and their apparel: “Because the daugh¬ 
ters of Zion are haughty, and walk with out¬ 
stretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and 
mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with 
their feet; therefore the Lord will smite with a 
scab the crown of the heads of the daughters of 
Zion, and Jehovah will lay bare their secret 
parts. In that day the Lord will take away the 
beauty of their anklets, and the cauls, and the 
crescents; the pendants, and the bracelets, and 


16 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


the mufflers; the headtires, and the ankle chains, 
and the sashes, and the perfume boxes, and the 
amulets; the rings and the nose jewels; the 
festival robes, and the mantles, and the shawls, 
and the satchels; the hand-mirrors, and the fine 
linen, and the turbans, and the veils. ’ ’ 

With truthful words has Charles Foster Kent 
characterized polygamy as a deteriorating fac¬ 
tor: “Throughout Israelitish history many of 
the worst evils that have afflicted the state pro¬ 
ceeded from the harem.’’ In justice to the 
Jews, and their excess of polygamous conditions 
at certain periods, two points should be em¬ 
phasized. Their neighbors were peoples that ac¬ 
cepted and practised polygamy, or plurality of 
wives, with greater sensuality than was often 
found among the Hebrews. W. H. Bennett, 
writing in Hastings’s Bible Dictionary, lays 
stress upon the fact that “polygamy makes each 
mother much more important to her own chil¬ 
dren than their father is. ’ ’ Among the Hebrews 
the concubine, or handmaid who was admitted 
as wife of her mistress’s husband, was treated 
with consideration; she could not be sold into 
slavery. Although the earlier heroes, like Abra¬ 
ham, Jacob and Moses, had more wives than one, 
polygamy was permitted, not encouraged by the 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 17 


religious leaders. During the days of nomadic 
settlements, when the desire was to increase the 
number of 4 ‘ Jehovah’s chosen people,’’ the addi¬ 
tion of women, as wives and concubines, served 
both for reproduction and protection. During 
the sojourn in Egypt there is no evidence of 
polygamy among the Hebrews. The tendency 
of the Levitical laws was toward the abolish¬ 
ment of “many wives” rather than their in¬ 
crease. As the Hebrews conquered their neigh¬ 
boring tribes, like the Amalekites, Amorites, and 
other peoples generally classified as Canaanites 
or Philistines, they intermarried in spite of de¬ 
crees against such sacrilege, and the “many 
wives” increased under the judges and the 
kings. Gideon “had threescore and ten sons of 
his body begotten” from his “many wives.” 
Mention is made, with implied reproach, of the 
son, Abimelech the conspirator, as the son “of 
his concubine that was in Shechem. ” 

David’s harem included many foreign wives; 
such were the mothers of Absalom and Reho- 
boam. Both David and Solomon chose this 
method of increasing their political influence, 
but the historical recorders never approved of 
the result upon the purity of life and religion 
of the people. Not easily forgotten are the later 


18 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 

influences of the heathen queens, Jezebel and 
Athaliah, and the degrading worship of the god 
Astarte. The dramatic, harrowing story in the 
last chapters of Judges, which has been called 
the Outrage of Gibeah, is a sad commentary 
upon the treatment of women on two occasions. 
The first part of the tale—possibly a folk-story 
—tells of the outrage and maltreatment, until 
she died, of the concubine of a certain Levite of 
Ephraim. Seeking hospitality in Gibeah of the 
Benjamites, this horrible calamity befell the 
woman at the hands of “ certain base fellows.” 
As if in apology or defense of the Israelites, the 
chronicler adds: “And it was so that all who 
saw it said, There was no such deed done nor 
seen from the day that the children of Israel 
came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day: 
consider it, take counsel, and speak / 1 Even 
more brutal is the sequel, in this time of “an eye 
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” Dividing 
the body of his dead concubine into twelve 
pieces, the Levite sent these ‘ ‘ throughout all the 
borders of Israel,” soliciting cooperation in 
punishment for the Benjamites. The battle 
raged fiercely, their towns were ravaged and 
their men of valor fell, twenty and five thousand 
men. Moreover, the men of Israel had sworn 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 19 


at Mizpah, “saying, There shall not any of us 
give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.” The 
tribe was faced with extermination, but the vow 
must be observed; recall the final act in this 
legendary drama, comparable to the rape of the 
Sabine Women: “And they commanded the 
children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait 
in the vineyards; and see, and, behold, if the 
daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the 
dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and 
catch you every man his wife-of the daughters of 
Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. . . 
And the children of Benjamin did so . . . and 
built the cities and dwelt in them.” 

Sharp and severe were the revenges upon 
those who defiled the purity of Dinah, daughter 
of Jacob and Leah, and Tamar, the daughter of 
David. Not alone individuals suffered for such 
crimes, but whole communities, like that of 
Shechem, were made captive, according to the 
biblical story. Thus by deed and law did the 
religious leaders among the Hebrews seek to 
purify the domestic atmosphere. In Levitical 
decrees both man and woman committing adul¬ 
tery, if the woman is the wife of another, “shall 
die. ’ ’ The woman guilty of infanticide, and the 
daughter of a priest who “played the harlot / 9 


20 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


were to die by burning or stoning. On the other 
hand, women were protected against false wit¬ 
ness by their husbands regarding their chastity; 
if the charge was true, the woman must die by 
stoning; if the husband had falsefied, he must 
pay a heavy fine to the father of the damsel; he 
must be “chastised” and live with his wife “all 
his days.” A man who seduced a damsel “in 
the field,” where she could not summon help, 
was sentenced to die. Divorce was permitted 
to a man if his wife “shall find no favor in his 
eyes, because he hath found some unseemly 
thing in her”; for this cause he may give her 
“a bill of divorcement” and she may marry 
again but never remarry her first husband. 

These Levitical laws, and others, w T ere abused 
and transgressed, as is evident in the records in 
Kings and Chronicles and the prophecies of 
Jeremiah, Micah, and Malachi, as well as in the 
words of Jesus, in response to the foolish ques¬ 
tions of the Pharisees, “Is it lawful for a man 
to put away his wife for every cause?” There 
is a significant sentence in the gentle, firm 
answer of Jesus to this question, and the later 
one about the command of Moses and the “bill 
of divorcement”; “He saith unto them, Moses 
for your hardness of heart suffered you to put 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 21 


away your wives: but from the beginning it hath 
not been so.” While polygamy was permitted 
and practised during a large part of Hebrew 
history, careful provision was made for the pro¬ 
tection of captive women who were made con¬ 
cubines, for “secondary wives” and their chil¬ 
dren. They could be given their freedom, but 
they could not be sold for money “as a slave.” 
Dr. Alfred Edersheim, in “Sketches of Jewish 
Social Life,” has stressed this point of legal 
justice, saying, “The tendency of Mosaic legis¬ 
lation was in the direction of recognizing the 
rights of woman with a scrupulousness which 
reached down even to the Jewish slaves and a 
delicacy that guarded her most sensitive feel¬ 
ings.” 

Equality of Women Social Rather than 

Legal 

In spite of such direct testimonies to the safe¬ 
guarding of womanhood among the Hebrews, 
and the potent influences of certain women upon 
civic and religious life at varied periods, admit¬ 
ting that such recognition was far in excess of 
that of contemporaneous peoples of Arabia and 
Assyria, the conviction remains that the equal¬ 
ity was social and domestic rather than legal. 


22 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


The father was the acknowledged ruler of the 
family. He was “the head” in business and 
religious affairs. The words of Jehovah to Eve 
were verified: “he [thy husband] shall rule 
over thee.” The father’s domination included 
his wife and all her possessions, the children, 
sons and daughters-in-law, and all members of 
the household. He could sell his children into 
slavery, if so inclined, but there are few indi¬ 
cations of such tyranny. The personal belong¬ 
ings of his wife, or wives, and of his children 
were his by legal right. It is doubtful if the 
woman could hold property, or transact busi¬ 
ness, with legal approval. The eldest son suc¬ 
ceeded his father as “head” of the family, but 
he was enjoined to care for his mother and 
sisters. 

As in all Oriental and many European coun¬ 
tries, in the past, the bride was sought for the 
eldest son by the latter’s father. From several 
incidents, it is clear that the bride’s consent was 
asked, especially if she was to leave her home, as 
in the case of Rebekah. Without doubt, the 
mother shared in these conferences and nuptial 
plans. Thus did Rebekah urge Isaac to send 
Jacob to her own kindred to find a fitting wife. 
An interesting side-light upon a daughter’s 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 23 


courage and independence is found in the few 
verses about Achsah, the daughter of Caleb. 
When her father gave her in marriage to 
Othniel, as a reward of the young man’s valor 
in battle, Achsah was not wholly satisfied with 
her dowry of a certain field; she made a visit to 
her father and made her request, in a tone of 
dominant will, “And she said, Give me a bless¬ 
ing; for that thou hast set me in the land of the 
South, give me also springs of water. And he 
gave her the upper springs and the nether 
springs.” Surely, there was sometimes a spirit 
of adventure as well as submission among these 
Hebrew women! Certain refusals were per¬ 
mitted to the wives, according to later rabbini¬ 
cal writings, if the ‘ ‘ terms 9 9 offered by the hus¬ 
bands were too onerous; or, again, “A man 
could not oblige his wife to follow him if he 
moved either from a township to a town or the 
reverse,” says Hr. Edersheim. 

Respect and Affection in the Home 

Although the father was supreme over his 
household, just as Yahweh or Jehovah was both 
ruler and father of his people, the home-rela¬ 
tions were those of reciprocal affection and 
responsibility. No Levitical law was more rig- 


24 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


idly enforced than the fifth. The sons and 
daughters must respect, obey, and care for their 
parents to the end of their lives. This duty, 
required and fulfilled, has given, to the Jews of 
all time, a status of family honor and sus¬ 
tenance. Said the older writer, “A good man 
leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children. 
. . . He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but 
he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” 
Later interpreters have assured us that this 
word “rod” is symbolic rather than literal, 
the meaning being that children should be re¬ 
strained and controlled. Said the more gra¬ 
cious Teacher, “If ye then, being evil, know how 
to give good gifts unto your children, how much 
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy 
Spirit to them that ask him V 9 “ Children, obey 
your parents in the Lord” was an admonition 
of earlier and later preachers; it had a corollary 
in the words of the apostle, “Fathers, provoke 
not your children to wrath . 9 9 These reflections 
of Hebrew domestic codes contain many a nug¬ 
get of truth and helpfulness for this later day 
of relaxed authority in the home. There is a 
ring of challenge and uplift in such words as 
these: “Ye shall fear every man his mother and 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 25 


his father; and ye shall keep my sabbath: I am 
Jehovah your God,” 

Within the typical home there was mutual 
love and its courteous expressions. Fathers 
kissed their sons as well as daughters, in greet¬ 
ing and on festivals. To the sons and daughters 
alike was the command, “ Honor thy father and 
thy mother . . . keep the commandment of thy 
father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 
Bind them continually upon thy heart.” It is 
noteworthy that the mother as well as the father 
is included in these admonitions; often the 
mother has priority of mention. In Talmudic 
times daughters were deplored, especially as 
“the first-born”; one may readily understand 
this feeling in view of the religious and legal 
status of the eldest son. In truth, in every land 
and every age, there is open or latent rejoicing 
at the birth of a “man-child” to young parents. 
Childlessness was considered a curse as well as 
a sorrow; witness the prayers of many women 
in their sterility, from Sarah, Rachel and 
Hannah to Elizabeth, mother of John the 
Baptist. In sincere reflection of the He¬ 
brew love of home and children, the Psalmist 
wrote: 


26 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Lo, children are a heritage of Jehovah; 

And the fruit of the womb is his reward. 

As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, 

So are the children of youth. 

Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; 
They shall not be put to shame, 

When they speak with their enemies in the gate. 

"While the marriage festival was the most im¬ 
portant social event in a Hebrew clan or city— 
and its varied features are well depicted in the 
Song of Songs—the feast and rejoicing on the 
eighth day after the child’s birth were of vital 
significance. They combined the social and reli¬ 
gious elements. Then the boy was circumcised; 
then the child was named. The next event was 
the offering of purification when a son was forty 
days old, or when a daughter was eighty days 
old; if the first-born v 7 as a son, five shekels was 
the money offering. The offerings were first- 
year lambs or pigeons or turtle-doves, according 
to the financial condition of the father and 
mother. On Sabbath eve the devout Hebrew 
gathered his family for special instruction and 
blessings, and for a festival of food and song. 
Women had part in the Temple services, al¬ 
though they must not approach beyond the 
Court of "Women, in Herod’s rebuilt Temple, 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 27 


“except for sacrificial purposes/’ Against the 
wall of the colonnade, which was about the 
court, were placed the thirteen chests or “trum¬ 
pets/ ’ for contributions. Savs Dr. Edersheim: 
“Into Trumpet III those women who had to 
bring turtle-doves for a burnt and a sin-offer¬ 
ing dropped their equivalent in money, which 
was daily taken out and a corresponding num¬ 
ber of turtle-doves offered. . . . Into this trum¬ 
pet Mary the mother of Jesus must have 
dropped the value of her offering when the aged 
Simeon took the infant Saviour ‘in his arms 
and blessed God/ ” Many were the feasts 
which were shared by both men and women, 
with the children included in the religious ser¬ 
vices. These varied at different periods of his¬ 
tory, and during the time of heathen worship 
they were neglected; but a summary of them 
would recall such occasions as the Passover and 
Feast of Tabernacles, in our April and October 
respectively, Feasts of Trumpets and of Dedi¬ 
cation in the autumn, and the Feast of Purim, 
after the heroic deed of Esther, late in the 
winter. 

Not alone in religious festivals did the women 
take part but, even more often and with greater 
freedom, in the festivals of harvest and vintage 


28 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


and on anniversaries of great or romantic 
events in Hebrew history. Josephus para¬ 
phrased a biblical passage when he wrote: 
“Now the women were an occasion of Saul’s 
envy and hatred to David for they came to meet 
their victorious army with cymbals and drums, 
and all demonstrations of joy, and sang thus: 
The wives said, That Saul hath slain his many 
thousands of the Philistines. The virgins re¬ 
plied, That David hath slain his ten thousands.” 
Yearly the maidens assembled to sing their La¬ 
ment for Jephthah’s daughter; again, they re¬ 
called the friendship of David and Jonathan in 
an ode or elegy which has become a part of 
world-poetry. In the earlier days the wells to 
which the maidens came “to draw water” were 
the gathering-places for social delight and gos¬ 
sip; in later times, the “gates of the city,” in 
the walled towns, served the same forum 
for the exchange of news and greetings 
at the evening hour. The Song of the Well, 
commemorative of the pilgrimage of the 
Israelites under Moses from Oboth to Pisgah, 
with special gratitude for the well at Beer, 
was, doubtless, one of the familiar odes to 
later days: 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 29 


Spring up, 0 well; sing ye unto it: 

The well which the princes digged, 

Which the nobles of the people delved, 

With the sceptre, and with their staves. 

The freedom of the women, both in secular and 
religious celebrations, was more natural and 
less dangerous in the earlier days than in those 
of decadent morality. The intrusion of vo¬ 
luptuous rites into heathen worship, which sup¬ 
planted the purity of Mosaic religion, the in¬ 
creased numbers of harlots and foreign women 
without protectors in the streets during the days 
of Jeroboam, Ahab, and other kings of weak 
resistance to idolatry, brought reactions upon 
the Hebrew home that tended toward greater 
restrictions for the women. As the Pharisees 
came into being as a sect, with their intolerant 
rites, it was decreed that women must go to the 
synagogue through “back streets” in some com¬ 
munities, lest they might distract the men from 
the holy meditations. Jesus brought his chal¬ 
lenge to such bigots and restored freedom to 
women in large measure by preaching to both 
men and women in the streets, on the hillsides, 
and even in Solomon’s Porch. He sought to 
restore, also, the status of woman in the home, 


30 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


not as servile worker nor a pampered, idle mem¬ 
ber of a harem, but sharer with her husband in 
the demands and rewards of family life. 

Foodj Furniture, and Domestic Customs 

In general environment the home of the 
Hebrew woman was almost literally “a land 
flowing with milk and honey.” Palestine, in 
the southern part of Syria, about as large as the 
State of Massachusetts, is a country of rolling 
hills, fertile valleys, and waters that abound in 
fish. On the trade-route from Arabia to Egypt, 
it was mentioned as early as 2600 b.c. in the bio¬ 
graphy of Uri, an Egyptian officer under Pepi I 
of the sixth dynasty. Just when the families or 
clans (called by their neighbors Hebrews, or 
“from beyond the river”) began their immi¬ 
grations into this fine agricultural and pastoral 
land is still disputed. Certain it is that by 1200 
b.c. the scattered families had become united 
into a nation, with neighbors like the Phenicians 
and Egyptians and Chaldeans of established 
civilization and sundry tribes, probably kin of 
the Hebrews, sometimes sharing pasturage in 
a friendly manner, sometimes fighting and pil¬ 
laging their outposts like the Moabites, the Edo¬ 
mites, the Amorites, and the Philistines. On the 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 31 


hills and in the Valley of Esdraelon grazed 
sheep and herds of cattle. The women shared 
in tending the sheep during this pastoral period. 
There was abundance of “butter of kine,” of 
grain and corn, of lentils and beans and millet 
and wheat and barley, as the years passed with 
success in agriculture. Vineyards flourished; 
the land was rich in figs, grapes, and olives, 
pomegranates and dates, wild honey and savory 
herbs. In the Sea of Galilee and small streams 
were fish of many kinds. One may readily 
imagine that to the Israelites, after the years 
of bondage and the forty years (by biblical com¬ 
putation) of wandering in the wilderness, this 
was indeed “the promised land,” “the land of 
plenty,’ ’ the ‘ ‘ land of rich harvests and water- 
springs.” 

The tents covered with skins of goats, and 
huts of the patriarchal period and the wilder¬ 
ness sojourn, gave place to “goodly cities,” 
with gates of brass and iron, with walls and 
watch-towers. Even in the days of tribal in¬ 
dependence, when Gideon and Barak and Jeph- 
thah, the “men of valor,” were tribal leaders, 
the Hebrew men and women were guarding their 
homes, “their little ones,” their flocks and 
herds. When Rachel carried away, hidden in 


32 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


her sack, the household gods from Laban’s fire¬ 
side to establish her own, though they may have 
been heathen emblems, she revealed the instinc¬ 
tive love of true womanhood for the symbols of 
her own hearth and home. Lot’s wife has been 
denounced as disobedient and defiant to the 
angel when she looked back upon the blazing 
ruins of Sodom, but the folk-tale has another 
interpretation: she may have craved one last 
look at her own abandoned home and hearth. 

Upon these hearths the Hebrew women 
cooked; in later times they had portable stoves 
of iron filled with hot coals and earthen ovens 
with a variety of pots and kettles. Far into the 
later history, “the pot was boiled over the fire 
of thorn bushes.” The Hebrew woman in the 
days of social righteousness, took pride in mak¬ 
ing her “wheaten cakes” and her unleavened 
bread, whatever might be her social rank. Cook¬ 
ing and dressing meat was an art with the 
Hebrew woman, from the time of Sarah and 
Abigail to that of the sister of Lazarus. The 
daughter of David, the fair, unfortunate Tamar, 
who was seduced by her brother, “took dough, 
and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and 
did bake the cakes.” When Samuel remon¬ 
strated with the people against their desire for 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 33 


a king, rather than a prophet of Jehovah as 
their leader, he portrayed the possible evils 
which might befall under a monarchy and said, 
“And he will take your daughters to be per¬ 
fumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers/’ 
The implication was not that such crafts were 
degrading but that they might have to be per¬ 
formed in a harem, or at the caprice of a king, 
rather than in a home. 

During periods of luxury, cooking fell into 
disrepute and was relegated to slaves but it was 
revived among the Jews after their return from 
captivity. For cooking and other household 
needs, various utensils are mentioned in the 
Bible. First, there are the pitchers, useful and 
graceful in design, that have become a boon to 
modem artists and dramatic directors. “To 
draw water from the well ’ ’ was an honored task, 
from the days of Rebekah and the daughters of 
Jethro to those of the woman of Samaria. It is 
somewhat disillusioning to find that some of 
these pitchers were “skin bottles” without 
beauty; others were of pottery. As has been 
suggested, the women gathered at the wells, at 
the cool hour of the day, both to fill their 
pitchers for household use—sometimes for the 
animals also—and to exchange the news of the 



34 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


day. Such news might be some small domestic 
incident; it might be some event of tribal or 
communal interest; it might be the impressions 
of some travelers as they passed over the trade- 
routes through the villages and hamlets of Pal¬ 
estine. Here, also, they sang their songs, per¬ 
haps to the accompaniment of the lute or timbrel 
played by one of the company of women. In 
imagination, as well as in art, one may picture a 
' group of these Hebrew maidens and younger 
matrons, with their dark eyes and hair, their 
clear olive skins, their loose, graceful garments 
and bright head-veils, balancing the pitchers 
upon their shoulders, as they talked with gay 
voices and sang joyful songs. There were occa¬ 
sions when they were serious and sad. When 
their fathers and brothers were away at war, 
they must stimulate each other with courage; 
they must prepare for defensive warfare, if 
necessary, to save their homes and cities with 
the same patriotic zeal that inspired Deborah 
or Jael, the “wise woman of Abel,” or Judith 
of Bethulia. Should the issue be one of victory 
for the Hebrews, the women would hasten to 
the gates of the city, watching for the approach 
of the victors with emotional joy and ardor to 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 35 


share in the “spoils of war,” should they bring 
hack jewels and rich garments. 

Mention is made of “earthen vessels,” pots 
for water and oil, kneading troughs, basins and 
pans, bowls, wooden spoons and mortars. The 
work of the handmill—the incessant toil of 
grinding com—was often performed by slaves 
or prisoners of war. Women were not exempt 
from the task, however, as is indicated by the 
reference of Jesus to the “two women . . . 
grinding at the mill, one is taken, and one is 
left.” Gathering and carrying firewood upon 
their heads was another feminine task. Baskets 
of many kinds and uses are enumerated among 
the common articles of the household and vine¬ 
yards. In the days of David and Solomon and 
the later years of wastefulness and ease, the 
social classes were sharply drawn; the very poor 
lacked the comforts of life, while the rich used 
vessels of gold and silver, candlesticks and 
lamps of pure gold, couches of ivory and richly 
wrought draperies. The first houses were tents 
and huts, or crude structures of clay, brick, and 
stone. Here was the home even more truly than 
in the later times of ivory palaces and “cedar 
chambers painted with vermilion. ” There were 


36 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


courtyards and latticed windows, and upper 
chambers in the houses of the prosperous. The 
roof was generally flat, affording a place for 
prayer, for sleeping in warm weather, and for 
drying flax, wool, and vegetables. 

When Eahab hid the spies that were sent 
forth by Joshua, she “brought them up to the 
roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which 
she had laid in order upon the roof.’ ’ 

Furniture in earlier periods was restricted to 
mats of goats’ hair or of skins, straw mat¬ 
tresses, folding and portable “tables” of skin, 
and low “stools” of leather and wood. In later 
times there were importations from Egypt, 
Babylon, Persia, and Home of divans and 
couches of gold, ivory, and silver, chests, cab¬ 
inets, and tables and many another “fleshpot” 
from beyond the Nile or the Euphrates. Crude 
lamps of baked clay, with wicks of flax and olive- 
oil as fuel, were used by the poorer people 
through the centuries, while the wealthy had 
candlesticks of bronze, silver, brass, and gold, 
sometimes standing four feet high. 

Hospitality and Education 

In every era of Hebrew history, hospitality 
was emphasized and enjoined. Such wasi a 



By permission of American Tissot Society 


jephthah’s daughter 

By J. James Tissot 




THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 37 


legacy from the Bedouin days. Before there 
were traveled roads and inns, each clan wel¬ 
comed any passers-by with their caravans or 
singly. In large tents there were always apart¬ 
ments for guests. The angel visitors at the tent 
of Abraham received a typical greeting of 
hospitality. At times of festivals, like those of 
the harvest, vintage, or sheep-shearing, or on 
the days of religious feasts, the roads were 
thronged with pilgrims. It was the pride of 
each tribe or settlement to see that the roads 
were safe for the traveler, safe from overhang¬ 
ing branches, refuse or pitfalls, and from rob¬ 
bers. In the Song of Deborah, one notes among 
the complaints against Sisera, the marauding 
captain of the king of Canaan who ‘ 1 oppressed’ ? 
the Israelites: 

In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, 

In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, 
And the travellers walked through byways. 

Women cooperated with the men in offering to 
the stranger-guests the best comforts of their 
homes, attractive food, water for their feet, 
clean garments, and gracious words. In the 
days of Jesus it was customary to hang a cur¬ 
tain in front oT the door of a house to indicate 
that there was room within for guests. To the 


38 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Great Teacher and his apostles, many women 
showed true hospitality: Martha and Mary of 
Bethany, Joanna and Mary, mother of Mark, 
Lydia of Thyatira, and many others who fol¬ 
lowed the examples of the mother and sister of 
Laban, the daughters of Jethro, the wife of 
Manoah, and the Shunammite friend of Elisha. 

Every Jewish father who failed to teach his 
son a trade was condemned “as if he had 
brought him up to be a robber.’ 1 There seem to 
have been no specific directions for the edu¬ 
cation of girls, but they were taught many prac¬ 
tical crafts, as well as household accomplish¬ 
ments. Cooking, weaving, spinning, dyeing, 
“fashioning’’ of garments, grinding grain and 
preparing vegetables and fruits for later use, 
tending, feeding, and watering the cattle and 
sheep, assisting in sowing and reaping the har¬ 
vests, caring for the children and managing the 
slaves and household servants—such were the 
usual educational courses of the Hebrew girls. 
To these must be added music and dancing, 
especially for religious and patriotic festivals. 
Instruments as well as voice were included in 
the musical instruction, for the Hebrew women, 
as well as the young men, were skilled with the 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 39 


harp and lute, the drum and cymbal, the timbrel 
and the psalteries, or lyres. The Jewish race 
have ever been fond of music and gifted in its 
production, from the days of Miriam and Jeph- 
thah’s daughter to the modern representatives, 
Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer. They have lacked 
interest and skill in sculpture and painting until 
later days; possibly the explanation has weight, 
that such is the result of the Mosaic prohibition 
against the making of “any graven image/’ 
Some intellectual training was given to the 
girls. They must have been taught weights and 
measures and medium of exchange in later 
times, in order to administer the affairs of the 
household. They were not “sent to school” as 
were the boys, after the age of twelve, but they 
were taught the “Scriptures,” the laws, pray¬ 
ers, psalms, and religious antiphonals. The 
fact that the Hebrew child was not weaned until 
two or even three years of age enabled the 
mothers to have vital influence in forming 
habits of their children, in teaching them re¬ 
ligious memory-verses, in telling them folk¬ 
tales and racial legends of lifelong influence. 
Lessons of reverence, obedience, industry and 
thrift, hospitality and kindness, loyalty and in- 


40 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


tegrity—such were the vital text-books that 
educated the Hebrew girl, as well as the boy, 
in the home that stood for social welfare. 

There is one portrayal of an ideal home-maker 
in biblical lore. It is the familiar recital of 
“the words of King Lemuel; the oracle which 
his mother taught him. ” Later scholars have 
asserted that King Lemuel was a descendant of 
Massa of the stock of Ishmael, and that the 
biblical passage belongs to the Greek period of 
later Old Testament history and influence. 
Whatever may be its chronology, it reveals, in 
poetic yet forceful words, the embodiment of the 
cherished attributes of womanhood among the 
Jews. What were the qualities of this wife and 
mother? Loyalty and steadfastness of purpose, 
strength and dignity, honor for her husband 
and care for her children, so that they “rise up, 
and call her blessed.’’ She was industrious with 
hand and brain, far-sighted and efficient: 

She riseth also while it is yet night, 

And giveth food to her household, 

And their tasks to her maidens. 

She considereth a field, and buyeth it; 

With the fruit of her hand she planteth a vineyard. 

To these traits of mental and physical prowess 
she added certain graces of character: 


THE HEBREW WOMAN IN HER HOME 41 


She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; 

Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. 

She is not afraid of the snow for her household; 
For all her household are clothed with scarlet. 

She maketh for herself carpets of tapestry; 

Her clothing is fine linen and purple. 

True to the demands of her home, she becomes, 
also, a helpmate to her husband by her own 
skill: 

She maketh linen garments and selleth them, 

And delivereth girdles unto the merchant. 

This chosen woman is a fine type of Hebrew 
womanhood at its highest. She is a helpful, 
loyal wife, a wise mother, a generous mistress 
and benefactor, a successful “business wo¬ 
man,” and a religious influence in home and 
community, “a woman that feared Jehovah.” 
Does she not fulfil nearly all the aspirations of 
the well balanced home-maker of the twentieth 
century ? 


CHAPTER III 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE: SOME OF THEM WERE WISE 
AND SOME WERE FOOLISH 

T HE Hebrews regarded marriage as far 
more than physical self-gratification, as it 
was among other early peoples. There are 
proofs of mutual respect and love in the homes 
of the patriarchs, the prophets, the kings, and 
the common people of every century of their 
history. In spite of excess of polygamy at 
varied times, the ideal of love was never lost, 
never wholly stained. Recall the question of 
Elkanah to Hannah, his childless wife, as she 
mourned: “Hannah, why weepest thou? and 
why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart 
grieved? am I not better to thee than ten sons?” 
Effusive in Oriental sensuousness and imagery, 
the Song of Songs, whether regarded as ro¬ 
mance or symbolism, is a vivid, authentic pic¬ 
ture of fervent love between a beautiful maiden 
and her royal lover. The woman may have been 

Abishag, the fairest Shunammite maiden that 

42 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


43 


could be found to “minister” to David in his 
old age, and to become the cause of jealousy 
between his sons afterward. She may have 
been only a nameless, typical maiden from the 
hills, accompanied by her peasant friends from 
the village, yearning for her vineyards and fig- 
trees, overcome by the splendors of court life, 
yet yielding to pure passion for her royal lover. 
In any interpretation, the reader finds here, not 
alone a graphic portrayal of wedding customs 
among the Hebrews and Syrians—the love- 
songs, the homage to bride and groom, the feasts 
and gaiety, the delights of nature—but he reads, 
also, the poetic, sincere pledge of loyalty of 
the wife to her “beloved”: 

Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine 
arm; 

For love is strong as death; 

Jealousy is cruel as Sheol; 

The flashes thereof are flashes of fire, 

A very flame of Jehovah. 

Many waters cannot quench love, 

Neither can floods drown it: 

If a man would give all the substance of his house 
for love, 

He would utterly be contemned. 

Malachi, in symbolic words, reproached any man 
who would “deal treacherously” with his com- 



44 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


panion, with the wife of his covenant and his 
youth/’ Jesus spoke admonitions to marital 
faithfulness. Ringing down the ages have come 
his potent words: “What therefore God hath 
joined together let not man put asunder.” 

With all due recognition of possible evils 
which may result from the custom of parents ’ 
selection of wives for their sons and daughters, 
one must admit that, in general, the marriages 
were more stable than in these later days of 
freedom, often of recklessness, of personal 
choice and resultant “misfits” and easy divorce. 
The betrothal, among the Hebrews, was a re¬ 
ligious obligation; it was not valid unless the 
prospective bride gave her consent. If a minor 
—a girl under twelve years and a day—was un¬ 
worthily betrothed or “given away” by her 
father, she could insist upon a divorce. In 
rabbinical writings it was said that a man mar¬ 
ried for one of four reasons, “passion, wealth, 
honour or the glory of God.” The first type 
of wedlock produced “stubborn and rebellious 
sons”; the second bred lazy, voluptuous chil¬ 
dren like those of Eli; the third type was that of 
Ahab and Jezebel, Jehorapi and Athaliah, and 
led to fatal results of heathendom; the fourth 
brought happiness like that of the patriarchs, 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


45 


or Boaz and Ruth. “Mixed marriages” were 
frequent for political purposes—alliances be¬ 
tween Palestine, Egypt, Phenicia, and Canaan 
—but they were deplored; in apostolic writings, 
“mixed marriages” between Christians and 
“unbelievers” were sometimes reproved. 

Marriage was a religious obligation to Je¬ 
hovah’s “chosen people.” Only physical in¬ 
ability, extreme poverty, or special aptitude for 
temple service could excuse celibacy. Betroth¬ 
als were accompanied, in later days, by written 
contracts and gifts. The father had to provide 
a dowry for his daughters. The marriage fes¬ 
tival lasted for a week, with much feasting 
and flow of wines; sometimes, in periods of 
moral decadence, it was an occasion of debauch. 
The parable of the Ten Virgins reflected a cus¬ 
tom of long standing, the carrying of lamps with 
oil, upon long staves, as a part of the bridal pro¬ 
cession. Marriage was a favorite symbol with 
Hebrew writers, especially the prophets, as ex¬ 
pression of the intimate, honored relation be¬ 
tween Jehovah and his chosen people. Many 
safeguards existed against immoral marriages; 
while the law was observed, there were prohibi¬ 
tions against marriage with defectives, minors, 
and those of too close consanguinity and similar 


46 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


unfitness. The Hebrews knew and emphasized 
many laws of hygiene in their purifications and 
other rites. Coming down to periods of relaxed 
morals and bigotry, one finds records of the 
most absurd cases where the biblical phrase, 
“if she fails to find favor in his sight,’’ was 
used as basis of divorce. “Going about with 
loose hair,” spinning in the street, talking too 
familiarly with men, ill treatment of a hus¬ 
band’s relatives in his presence, “bawling so 
loudly that the neighbors would hear her in the 
adjoining house,” were among the “causes for 
a divorce. ’ ’ The wife could ask for a separation 
from a husband who was afflicted with “a loath¬ 
some disease”; she might even extend her ob¬ 
jection to living with him if he was “engaged in 
a disagreeable or dirty trade, such as that of 
a tanner or coppersmith.” The husband could 
control his wife’s property and even her gains 
after marriage. In later days education for 
women, especially instruction in writing, light¬ 
ened these restrictions and gave the women 
equality. ‘ ‘ Woman’s place, ’ ’ however, was gen¬ 
erally restricted to the home, to household man¬ 
agement, hospitality, and the training of chil¬ 
dren. 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


47 


fVives of Lot and Potiphar 

Individual wives of biblical literature may be 
grouped, with elasticity, under the general 
classes of wise and foolish. As in all normal 
human beings, both extremes were found in 
many women, but, judged by their specific traits 
and influences, certain of them were much wiser 
than were others. Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, 
Hannah, and many more of the most familiar 
characters will be considered in the chapter 
upon Mothers, for thus their major qualities 
were revealed. If we include legends with his¬ 
tory, we recall two pioneer women with foolish 
qualities, as tradition has estimated them, Lot’s 
wife and the wife of Potiphar. The biblical 
story of Noah and the Flood tells very little 
about Noah’s wife except that she was the 
mother of three sons and some daughters and 
that she went with them and the animals into 
the ark. Persistent and amusing traditions have 
said that Noah’s wife was essentially feminine 
in her love of gossip; that she delayed the en¬ 
trance of the family into the Ark because she 
wished to talk longer with her women-friends, 


48 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


her “ gossips/’ and that she was unwilling to 
leave behind her household goods. 

Lot’s wife has been used as a “fearful ex¬ 
ample” of disobedience and unbelief. This has 
been the interpretation by artists, notably Ru¬ 
bens in his “Flight of Lot,” where an angel 
warns her of her fate while she, with clasped 
hands, has a look of sad longing, as she passes 
through the gates of Sodom. Above her an evil 
spirit hovers, looking angrily at the angel and 
awaiting an opportunity to turn the face of 
Lot’s wife back toward her home. In Raphael’s 
familiar painting, and that by Corot, she has 
already taken her backward look and is changed 
into a pillar of salt. Paul Veronese, with simi¬ 
lar motive, adds an angel to conduct Lot’s two 
daughters safely out of the city, hurrying them 
forward towards Zoar. Salt clefts, often six 
hundred feet high, are found for many miles 
at the southwest of the Dead Sea. Undoubtedly 
myth, superstition, and history are commingled 
in this story of the destruction of Sodom and 
the tragedy of Lot’s wife. Was she one of “the 
wicked daughters of Sodom” before her mar¬ 
riage? Was her disobedience due, in part, to 
emotional distress and feminine craving, a 
strong impulse to take a last look at her home? 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


49 


One must not condemn this woman too severely. 
Was Lot superior to his wife? He would sacri¬ 
fice the purity and honor of his daughters to 
save the angel visitors from violence. Were the 
daughters superior, who seduced their drunken 
father and bore children by him? It is ex¬ 
plained that such an act was imperative to pre¬ 
vent the extermination of the race. Altogether, 
this is a grim, dramatic tale of prehistoric 
days. 

Potiphar’s wife is far more recognizable as 
a type. She is the bold, lustful, cruel woman 
of every age. As wife of the prime minister, 
she was evil in mind and morals. She used 
her social and political influence to endanger the 
life of a young man who was “comely and well- 
favored” because he appealed to her lust. Jose¬ 
phus, who gives the story in much detail, says of 
Potiphar’s wife, “she was fallen in love with 
him both on account of the beauty of his body 
and his dexterous management of affairs.” 
This historian says also that Potiphar “was 
chief cook to King Pharaoh,” that he had 
bought and educated Joseph, when his brothers 
sold him in captivity at seventeen years of age. 
Failing of her design and desire, Potiphar’s 
wife was cruel in her revenge. It brought 


50 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Joseph to prison and to a fortunate issue for 
him; it might have caused his death had Poti- 
phar been more savage in his retaliation, or 
more sure that the charges of his wife were 
justified. Possibly her husband knew her weak 
passions and was lenient toward Joseph. The 
resistance and moral purity of the young man, 
surrounded by moral pollution, and with polit¬ 
ical honors as a possible recompense for yield¬ 
ing, emphasize Joseph’s finer strain of idealism. 
He was a worthy son of Rachel and Jacob, at 
his highest manliness; he was a true grandson 
of the faithful idealist, Isaac. One queries what 
were the qualities of the woman whom Joseph 
chose for his wife, the mother of his two sons, 
Ephraim and Manasseh. 

Zipporah, Wife of Moses, and Her Family 

In contrast with these two wives, accounted as 
foolish or wicked, was Zipporah, the wife of 
Moses, the daughter of Jethro, high priest of 
Midian. Again, from Josephus we learn that 
the Midianite women were the “handsomest, 
decked and trimmed to the highest degree,” 
upon another occasion. We know more about 
Jethro, or Raguel, than about his daughter from 
biblical records, but it is safe to assume that 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


51 


she was attractive, loyal, and helpful to her 
father and husband, a good mother of her two 
sons, Gershom and Eliezer. The meeting of 
this maiden and Moses was romantic. Jethro 
owned large estates and flocks. He had seven 
daughters who came to the stream near his 
home, to fill their troughs with water daily for 
the cattle. Shepherds often drove them away. 
Thither came Moses, who had fled into Midian 
after he had attacked two Egyptians for mal¬ 
treating Hebrew workmen. He drove away the 
troublesome shepherds, “delivered them out of 
the hands of the shepherds. ’ ’ Here is a delight¬ 
ful picture of pastoral chivalry! Moses gained 
the gratitude of their father and was given Zip- 
porah as his wife. In this new home, where 
Moses was received and called “an Egyptian,” 
he “was keeping the flock of Jethro” when the 
miraculous commission came to him, from the 
burning bush, to deliver the Israelites from their 
bondage and to lead them back to Palestine. It 
is doubtful if Zipporah was with Moses in Egypt 
during the periods of the plagues, although she 
was brave and faithful, as is shown in the 
incident of the circumcision of her son. She 
was probably with her father in Midian during 
these years and until after the Exodus. A little 


52 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


later, after the “fall of manna,” Jethro came 
to Moses, accompanied by* Zipporah and their 
two sons. Moses met them near Mount Sinai, 
where his vision had come to him. To the 
biblical account is added, by Josephus, the 
statement that Moses here “made a feast and 
offered sacrifice” on this reunion with his 
family. Bernardino Betto of the Umbrian 
School has painted this scene in “The Journey 
of Moses” in frescoes of Sistine Chapel. 

An interesting side-light upon Jethro is the 
part played by him when he came to the camp 
of Moses in the wilderness, with his daughter 
and grandsons, and observed the heavy task that 
Moses was performing. Jethro advised wisely 
—and Moses accepted his counsel—when he 
planned for the Israelites the court of counsels 
and judges which became the foundation of 
Mosaic administration. “And when Moses’ 
father-in-law saw all that he did to the people 
[in judgment from the morning until the eve¬ 
ning] he said . . . The thing that thou doest 
is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both 
thou, and this people that is with thee: for the 
thing is too heavy for thee: thou art not able 
to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now unto 
my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God be 


WIVES OP THE BIBLE 


53 


with thee: be thou for the people to God-ward, 
and bring thou the causes unto God: and thou 
shalt teach them the statutes and the laws, and 
shalt show them the way wherein they must 
walk, and the work that they must do. More¬ 
over thou shalt provide out of all the people 
able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating 
unjust gain; and place such over them, to be 
rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers 
of fifties, and rulers of tens. . . . And they 
judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes 
they brought unto Moses, but every small matter 
they judged themselves.’’ 

After Moses “let his father-in-law depart” 
into his own land, Zipporah probably remained 
with her husband and sons. There is no men¬ 
tion of her death. Possibly it was before the 
lapse of Moses, when he took “a Cushite 
woman” for his wife, and thus aroused the re¬ 
sentment of Aaron and Miriam; one would like 
to believe that Zipporah was dead at this time. 
There was, however, a tradition that the 4 ‘ Ethio¬ 
pian wife” of Moses had been married to him 
before he fled from Egypt into Midian, as “the 
term of agreement” with the Ethiopian king for 
peace when Moses was waging battle with him 
in behalf of Pharaoh. Another side-light, which 


54 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


emphasizes the gifts of this family of Jethro 
and Zipporah, is found in the later effort of 
Moses to retain as his companion Hobab, the son 
of Jethro and brother of Zipporah: “And 
Moses said unto Hobab . . . We are journeying 
unto the place of which Jehovah said, I will give 
it you; come thou with us, and we will do thee 
good. . . . And he said unto him, I will not go; 
but I will depart to mine own land, and to my 
kindred. And he said, Leave us not, I pray 
thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to 
encamp in the wilderness, and thou shalt be to 
us instead of eyes.” 

The Wives of Samson 

Several generations after the death of Moses, 
when the judges were the religious and military 
leaders of the Israelitish tribes, there was a 
sad woman, the wife of Manoah, of the family 
of the Danites. Like Sarah before her time and 
Hannah afterward, she longed for a child. In 
her brooding there came to her an angel who 
promised that she should bear a son who should 
be a Nazarite, and who should “begin to save 
Israel out of the hand of the Philistines . 9 f She 
must not drink wine nor strong drink, nor eat 
anything that was “unclean,” for this son was 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


55 


to be ‘ 4 dedicated” to Jehovah, so said the angel- 
visitor who called himself i ‘ wonderful . 11 Many 
are the stories that have been told about this 
son, Samson, and his matchless strength and 
clever riddles. He was the Hebrew prototype 
of the Greek Heracles in strength and cunning. 
This man, who could rend a lion that roared 
against him “as he would have rent a kid” by 
the strength of his bare hands, was a giant phys¬ 
ically but a dwarf in his will-power and moral 
resistance. His mother must have been per¬ 
plexed and worried if she endeavored to make 
the prophecy of the angel tally with the char¬ 
acter of her son. He did, however, become a 
fighter against the Philistines. His marriage 
was a disappointment to his parents, for he 
“went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in 
Timnah of the daughters of the Philistine. And 
he came up, and told his father and his mother, 
and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah of 
the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore 
get her for me to wife. Then his father and his 
mother said unto him, Is there never a woman 
among the daughters of thy brethren, or among 
all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of 
the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson 
said unto his father, Get her for me; for she 


56 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


pleaseth me well.” It was on the way to Tim- 
nah to conclude the plans for the marriage 
that Samson slew the lion. His parents ceased 
to dissuade him from his choice, for “he sought 
an occasion against the Philistines.” 

This wife of Samson must have been alluring 
in speech as well as features, for “he talked 
with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.” 
Then he made a wedding feast lasting seven 
days, to which thirty companions, young men of 
the Philistines, came. To them, as a form of 
entertainment, he spoke the riddles about the 
lion and the honey that he had found and eaten 
from its carcass. To the Eastern peoples, a 
riddle is a vital matter; it must be solved, or the 
honor of the contestants is lost. And Samson 
had promised, to these young men, thirty pieces 
of linen garments and thirty changes of raiment 
if they could guess the riddle in seven days of 
the feast. Then appeal was made to Samson’s 
wife—an appeal of forceful warning, for if she 
should not “entice” her husband and thus de¬ 
clare the riddle, she and her father’s house 
would be burned. With typical mode of attack 
for certain women, she entered upon her part 
of the plot to save these men from humiliation. 
She wept and reproached him, declaring, ‘ ‘ Thou 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


57 


dost but hate me, and lovest me not.” One’s 
sympathy goes out to Samson as the story pro¬ 
gresses. It would be hard for any bridegroom 
to withstand such incessant appeals: “And she 
wept before him the seven days, while their feast 
lasted; and it came to pass on the seventh day, 
that he told her, because she pressed him sore; 
and she told the riddle to the children of her 
people.’ ’ This wife of Samson must have popu¬ 
larized tears as a woman’s weapon for future 
ages. 

Dramatic was the sequel of this tale. Ang¬ 
ered, Samson took vengeance upon the men of 
Ashkelon, and then returned to his father’s 
house. He seemed, however, to yearn after his 
weeping, alluring wife. Again he went down, 
in the time of the wheat harvest, with a kid, 
to see and enjoy his wife; but she had been 
given to one of the “companions.” Suavely 
her father told his excuse; “I verily thought 
that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I 
gave her to thy companion: is not her younger 
sister fairer than she? Take her, I pray thee, 
instead of her.” Not so easily was Samson sat¬ 
isfied ; with firebrands between the tails of three 
hundred foxes, he set fire to the standing grain 
and the olive-yard of the Philistines, and had 


58 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


his revenge. The wife and her father became 
the victims, in turn, of the wrath of the Philis¬ 
tines and were burned; in retaliation, Samson 
‘ i smote them hip and thigh with a great slaugh¬ 
ter.” 

One might surmise that this giant Nazarite 
would learn his lesson and avoid seductive 
women, hut twice he was victimized by them 
again. Once he was surrounded and attacked, 
while he was with a harlot at Gaza; it was then 
that he carried off the bars and “ doors of the 
gate of the city” up to the top of Mount Hebron 
in his muscular arms. The third Samson tale 
is the most familiar because of the wily woman, 
Delilah, in the Valley of Sorek, another woman 
whom he u loved” and who “sold him to the 
Philistines for eleven hundred pieces of silver,” 
that were promised to her severally by “the 
lords of the Philistines.” In literature Delilah 
shares with Vivian the reputation of the deceit¬ 
ful, seductive woman. She was keen as well as 
intriguing. It was a contest of wits, as well as 
love-tokens, between the man and woman until 
“it came to pass, when she pressed him daily 
with her words, and urged him, that his soul was 
vexed unto death. And he told her all his 
heart.” 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


59 


There is no biblical authority for Milton’s 
characterization of Delilah returning to Sam¬ 
son, in his prison-house and blindness, offering 
to atone for her faithlessness. “ Samson Agon- 
istes” reveals a strong man, able to see at last 
that he has been seduced, that Delilah is un¬ 
trustworthy. The character of his father is 
another triumph for the poet. She is seemingly 
repentant in her first words: 

I was a fool, too rash and quite mistaken, 

In what I thought would have succeeded best. 

Let me obtain forgiveness of thee, Samson ; 

Afford me place to show what recompense 
Towards thee I intend for what I have misdone, 
Misguided;—though sight be lost, 

Life yet hath many solaces, enjoyed 
Where other scenes want not their delight.— 

I to the lords will intercede, not doubting 
Their favorable ear, that I may fetch thee 
From forth this loathsome prison-house to abide 
With me, where my redoubled love and care 
With nursing diligence, to me glad office 
May ever tend about thee to old age 
With all things grateful cheered, and so supplied, 

That what by me thou hast lost thou least shalt miss. 


Wben she is repulsed, her pleading denied, 
then she shows the venom of her nature, al- 


60 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


though she ascribes her deed to patriotism to 
her Philistine people, declaring that she will be 
ranked, in heroic memory, beside 

Jael, who with inhospitable guile, 
Smote Sisera sleeping through the temples nailed. 

The chorus sounds the true character of Delilah, 
as she departs: 

She’s gone, a manifest serpent by her sting 
Discovered in the end, till now concealed. 

Three Wives of David: Michal, Abigail, and 

Bath-sheba 

Three of the many wives of David stand 
forth with marked, varied personalities. Michal 
was “the wife of his youth.’’ She was one of 
the daughters of Saul; her sister’s name was 
Merab. When David, as a shepherd-lad, went 
up to the court of Saul to play upon the harp or 
lute, to soothe the mentally distraught condition 
of the excitable king, it may have been Michal 
and her maidens who “stood about” and were 
amazed at the beautiful youth and his magical 
music. Josephus arouses one’s amused query 
by his description of the appearance of David 
as a youth: “He appeared to be of a yellow 
complexion, of a sharp sight, and a comely per- 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


61 


son in other respects also.” There are other 
interesting comments by Josephus upon this 
wife of David and her confessed love for the 
humble peasant lad. Anticipating a later 
period, evidently, the historian asserts that 
“Saul heard this gladly, as intending to make 
use of it as a snare against David, and he hoped 
that it would prove the cause of destruction and 
of hazards to him.” 

Without question this king’s daughter “loved 
David.” She was a brave girl, with initiative 
and daring, with an equally strong resentment, 
in later life, of her husband’s attitude toward 
her and his kingship. Few young wives of her 
time, especially of royal blood, would have ven¬ 
tured to defy their fathers and to save their 
husbands by such a clever ruse as she invented 
when Saul, angered because “all Israel and 
Judah loved David,” determined to have him 
captured and killed in his home with Michal. 
The story is familiar, how she urged David to 
listen to her, how she let him down through the 
window, declaring, “If thou save not thy life 
to-night, to-morrow thou wilt be slain.” Then, 
with inventive acumen, she placed, in his bed, 
the teraphim, or household gods, and a pillow 
of goats ’ hair at the head and covered this with 


62 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


the bedclothes. Again, Josephus makes an in¬ 
genious interpretation; he says that she put in 
the bed a goat ’s liver; then * ‘ she made the leap¬ 
ing of the liver, which caused the bed-cloaths to 
move also, that David breathed like one that 
was asthmatic.” MichaPs courage lasted until 
her father faced her with a question of her dis¬ 
obedience, and then she gave the excuse of self- 
defense ; such a lie would not seem disloyal to 
a woman of that time and standards. She was 
brave and resourceful. 

Saul had his revenge, however, and married 
Michal to Paltiel, the son of Laish, while David 
was away on military exploits, strengthening 
himself with the tribes so that he might become 
king. After he was acclaimed as King of Israel, 
following the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, 
Abner, the cousin of Saul and a captain in his 
army, revolted and sought to join forces with 
David. Then David made a fixed condition say¬ 
ing, “Well; I will make a league with thee: but 
one thing I require of thee, that is, thou shalt 
not see my face, except thou first bring Michal, 
Saul’s daughter, when thou comest to see my 
face.” So she was taken from her husband and 
returned to David as his wife. A tribute to her 
attractiveness and fine character is found in the 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


63 


vivid picture of this scene: “And her husband 
[Paltiel] went with her, weeping as he went, 
and followed her to Bahurim. Then said Abner 
unto him, Go, return: and he returned.’ ’ 

It would be gratifying to believe that David ’s 
deep love for Michal and her reciprocal affec¬ 
tion for him brought about this return and a 
happy issue. Unfortunately, one must confess 
that David had enough of shrewdness to realize 
that if Michal, SauPs daughter, was reinstated 
in his home—or his harem, as it was by that 
time—he would thereby increase his claims to 
the throne of Judah and his popularity among 
SauPs allies. The result was not romantic. 
Michal was now one of several wives. Per¬ 
haps her love for David had waned; perhaps 
she loved Paltiel better, for he was a faithful 
lover-husband. An incident that has been 
much discussed showed her antipathy to 
David when she thought he was lowering his 
dignity as a king. When, after the conquests 
by David, the ark was brought back into Jeru¬ 
salem from Baale-judah, Davids emotional and 
religious ecstasy exceeded ordinary expression. 
He led the rejoicing in a riotous dance. Michal 
saw him 11 leaping and dancing before Jehovah, ’ ’ 
and “she despised him in her heart/’ With 




64 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


dignity and resentment she taunted him with 
‘‘ uncovering ’ 1 himself “in the eyes of the hand¬ 
maids of his servants, as one of the vain fel¬ 
lows shamelessly uncovereth himself!” It 
would seem that Michal should be respected for 
this evidence of refined womanhood; hut the 
Hebrew historian was on the side of David and 
of his explanation that his dance was “before 
Jehovah,” and the punishment was recorded: 
“And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child 
unto the day of her death.” Other traditional 
and historical narrators, including Josephus, 
say that she had five children, as wife of Paltiel. 
Josephus softens her words of rebuke to David. 
There has been difficulty in reconciling this 
statement of Michal’s sterility with the story of 
Rizpah and her tragic watch over the unburied 
bodies of her two sons and of five sons of Michal, 
daughter of Saul. Probably these were the sons 
of Merab, the elder daughter of Saul; Merab 
was the wife of Adriel and these are called the 
“five sons of Michal whom she bare to Adriel.” 

Into the life of David while he was a free¬ 
lance, an ancient Robin Hood, before the days of 
his kingship, there came another woman of fine 
character and strong influence. Abigail, the 
wife of Nabal, and later wife of David, is one 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


65 


of the most convincing, heroic women of biblical 
history. Nabal, whose possessions were in Car¬ 
mel, was a 4 Very great” man in wealth; he 
had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats 
and corresponding estates and vineyards. David 
and his men had encamped near by and had 
protected Nabal’s flocks and herds from ma¬ 
rauders in a time of famine. Now the sheep¬ 
shearing was at hand; David sent his men to ask 
for some supplies: “Give, I pray thee, whatso¬ 
ever cometh to thy hand, unto thy servants, and 
to thy son David.’ 7 It was a courteous request, 
considering the service rendered. Nabal was 
not alone a dullard, whose name signified fool 
or folly, but he was churlish and a drunkard. 
Abigail must have already deplored her mar¬ 
riage and tried to make amends for his stupid¬ 
ity and “evil doings.” Insulting was the an¬ 
swer which he sent back to David, asking “Who 
is David? There are many servants nowadays 
that break away every man from his master. 
Shall I then take my b^ead, and my water, and 
my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and 
give it unto men of whom I know not whence 
they are!” 

When this reply, and David’s preparations 
for retaliation, were reported to Abigail, she 


66 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


showed her ‘ ‘ good understanding ’’; she acted 
decisively. She had mental astuteness as well 
as “a beautiful countenance’’ and charm. 
Equipped with two hundred loaves, two bottles 
of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five 
measures of parched grain and one hundred 
clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of 
figs, she mounts upon her ass and departs for 
David’s tent, with an escort of her ‘‘ young 
men.” She might have sent these supplies by 
a messenger, but she knew the value of a per¬ 
sonal appeal. David, still cherishing resent¬ 
ment and ready to seize NabaPs possessions, 
sees Abigail and goes out to meet her. Pros¬ 
trating herself before him—the woman of 
wealth, beauty, and dignity before the untitled, 
youthful warrior—she offers to take the blame 
and the punishment for her husband. This may 
have been “good policy”; it may have been a 
woman’s genuine self-sacrifice. She does not 
hesitate, however, to admonish David to be leni¬ 
ent for his own future memories. Admitting 
that her husband’s name indicates his character, 
his folly, and assuring David that she did not 
see the young men whom he sent for the sup¬ 
plies, she thus indicates that she was, generally* 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


67 


the administrator of the estate. Prophesying 
that David will soon be made a “lord,” with the 
aid of Jehovah, she urges upon him forgiveness 
for Nabal’s churlishness, for he will be glad, 
“when he shall be appointed prince over 
Israel,” that he has not avenged himself nor 
“shed blood without cause.” 

Abigail, the gracious and far-seeing, the 
woman of keen mind and discriminating words, 
returns with the assurance of protection. She 
returns to a drunken husband. The next morn¬ 
ing, when Nabal is somewhat sober, she tells 
him her story with courage and determination. 
The sequel is satisfying to romantic fancy. 
Nabal becomes ill, probably from paralysis; he 
lives only ten days, and David soon sends for 
Abigail to come to his tent as his wife. This 
marriage brought to David much wealth and 
political strength, for Abigail was of the ho^ise 
of Caleb. Unfortunately, for unalloyed ro¬ 
mance, the narrator adds, “David also took 
Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they became both of 
them his wives.” Abigail bore children; the 
first, named Chileab, probably died, as no later 
mention is made of him. Both Ahinoam and 
Abigail, with their sons and daughters, were 


68 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


taken captives by the Amalekites but were res¬ 
cued by David after a battle and lived to share 
his kingdom and fame. 

Sharply contrasted with Abigail was Bath- 
sheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. For her 
sake, or because of her extraordinary beauty 
and its reaction upon the king, David committed 
the “sin” which has always been regretted as 
the “blot on his scutcheon.” Josephus tries to 
relieve the harshness of any judgment upon 
David by reiterating that “he was otherwise 
naturally a righteous and a religious man, and 
one that firmly observed the laws of our fa¬ 
thers.” Moreover, Bath-sheba was “one of ex¬ 
traordinary beauty, and therein surpassed all 
other women, so that he was overcome by her 
beauty.” The Bible story is frank in certain 
features of this episode in the life of the war¬ 
rior-king, for it happened in his earlier man¬ 
hood. Other historians, with Marjorie Strachey 
in her romance, “David, Son of Jesse,” have 
amplified the earlier stages of the intrigue, the 
effort to conceal the fact of their adultery (for 
Bath-sheba might suffer death if it were known) 
and the yet more direful condition of her preg¬ 
nancy while her husband was away, fighting for 
David. Although a Hittite, Uriah was a friend 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


69 


as well as neighbor to David. David might have 
spared his life, had Uriah gone to his own 
home and his wife, when he returned for a short 
respite from the war. He refused, however, to 
desert the other armor-bearers who were sleep¬ 
ing in front of David’s house. The plot to place 
Uriah in the battle-front so as to insure his 
death was discussed and executed by Joab, who 
henceforth knew the guilty secret of David and 
Bath-sheba. When Nathan, the prophet, brought 
home to David the enormity of his crime in the 
tender story of the “one ewe lamb,” and when 
the first child born of this wedlock died, David 
showed his deeper, more religious nature. Na¬ 
than seemed to have become an adviser of 
Bath-sheba when, in later years, she extorted 
from the aged David a promise that her son 
Solomon should succeed to the throne over his 
elder brother. Solomon, whose birth-date was 
about 1035 b.c., showed signs of wisdom and 
resource in his youth. “Nathan felt that Solo¬ 
mon was his special ward from birth,” says 
Dean Farrar, and so he helped Bath-sheba to 
gain her ambition. He adds, “To Bathsheba 
must have fallen the chief share in the education 
of her child and it is impossible to suppose that 
her influence could have been very good.” 


70 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Wives of Solomon and Jeroboam I 

At casual thought, it would seem as if Solo¬ 
mon should have been the son of the wise, effi¬ 
cient Abigail rather than of the beautiful, per¬ 
suasive, but weak Bath-sheba. He increased all 
the wealth and glory that had been his father’s; 
he increased, also, the size of his harem. The 
exact number of David’s wives is not recorded; 
he had seven that are mentioned by name, with 
6 i many more wives and concubines. ’ ’ The wives 
of Solomon are estimated in the hundreds, if 
we accept biblical records and the words of 
Josephus, who gives the aggregate as seven 
hundred wives and three hundred concubines. 
Many of these women were kept in the luxurious 
harem for political purposes; they chronicled 
the king’s alliances with Sidonians and Tyrians, 
with Ammonites and Edomites. It was a de¬ 
pressing period for free, normal home life, the 
reign of the rich and wise Solomon. Even if 
an extra cipher has been added to the number 
and even if the figures should be seventy wives 
and thirty or eighty concubines, one does not 
query why it was written of Solomon, “his 
wives turned away his heart after other gods.” 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


71 


The marvel is that he kept his sanity and phys¬ 
ical well-being as long as he was able to reign. 
Such “enervating self-indulgence,” as Dean 
Farrar has well phrased it, would create less 
surprise and censure in Solomon’s day than in 
ours, but even then it was deplored by Hebrew 
writers of later years. 

The wife who held first place, chronologically 
and socially, was the daughter of Pharaoh, king 
of Egypt, on account of an “affinity” which 
Solomon wished to make with this country. He 
brought her with great pomp “into the city of 
David, until he had made an end of building 
his own house, and the house of Jehovah.” We 
know nothing about this queen, but it is safe to 
assume that she was well educated, as the Egyp¬ 
tian princesses were for that time, that she 
maintained her position of rank and influence 
throughout her life. She came to Solomon 
while he was young and aspiring. His aspira¬ 
tions were not alone for more material glory, 
nor for a larger kingdom, for the people already 

r # 

were millions, but for “an understanding heart 
to judge,” the ability to “discern between good 
and evil.” Browning has used the records of 
Solomon’s rich garments of Tyrian dyes, made 


72 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


from the sea-shell, and the dazzling covers upon 
his throne for two stanzas in his poem, “Popu¬ 
larity”: 

Enough to furnish Solomon 

Such hangings for his cedar-house, 

That, when gold-robed he took the throne 
In that abyss of blue, the Spouse 
Might swear his presence shone 

Most like the centre-spike of gold 
Which burns deep in the bluebell ’s womb 
What time, with ardors manifold, 

The bee goes singing to her groom, 

Drunken and overbold. 

Solomon was a drastic monarch, in spite of 
his wisdom and discretion; his divided kingdom, 
after his death, suffered from his deeds of 
cruelty, in spite of, his prayer for “an under¬ 
standing heart.” One of his first deeds was 
to have his half-brother, Adonijah, the true heir 
to David’s throne, killed. The excuse given was 
that Adonijah desired to marry the beautiful 
Abishag, the last, futile concubine of his father 
David. Bath-sheba had proffered the request 
to Solomon at the urgent desire of Adonijah; 
this showed the persuasive power accredited 
to Bath-sheba. Solomon, however, refused to 
consider such a marriage. His political sagacity 



TmM] 

■ ■ ■ ^ 


DEBORAH, A PROPPIETESS 

Drawing by Jennie Wylie 
















WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


73 


knew that such an alliance would strengthen 
the claims of Adonijah for the throne, for 
to marry his father’s concubine might be re¬ 
garded among royalty as a means of estab¬ 
lishing a claim to the throne. So Adonijah must 
die. It has always been a question whether the 
Song of Songs was written to commemorate the 
love of the beautiful Shunammite maiden for 
her royal lover. Then Joab must be put out of 
the path of Solomon; it was one of the last com¬ 
mands of David to Solomon, to 6 ‘ remember’’ 
what Joab had done in enmity toward David 
and that he had caused the death of Abner. The 
admonition was framed in smooth words, but its 
intent was plain: “Do therefore according to 
thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down 
to Sheol in peace. ’ ’ It will be recalled that Joab 
was the nephew and captain of David, that he 
was the man chosen by the king to cause the 
death of Uriah, husband of Bath-sheba, that 
both David and Bath-sheba lived with the fear 
and suspicion of Joab ever before them. Joab’s 
death, by order of Solomon, was a relief to 
Bath-sheba in her old age. 

The tendencies to idolatry in the later life 
of Solomon, because of his efforts to please his 
“many wives” and to establish altars for the 


74 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


worship of their ‘‘strange gods’’—for Astarte 
of the Sidonians and Chemosh of the Moabites 
and Milcom of the Ammonites—brought about 
the revolt of the people and the rebukes of the 
prophets of Jehovah. To this idolatry his 
son Rehoboam added a refusal to listen to 
the advice of the older men and a determina¬ 
tion to become even more severe in regard to 
taxes and burdens upon the people than his 
father had been. He listened to the young men 
and proclaimed their bold, merciless threats: 
“My father made your yoke heavy, but I will 
add to your yoke: my father chastised you with 
whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” 
In these later days, it is interesting to record 
this revolt of the people from monarchical 
tyranny, the decree against the “house of 
David” by the ten tribes of Israel and the selec¬ 
tion of Jeroboam as their king. 

Jeroboam was an Ephraimite, the son of Ne- 
bat, a servant of Solomon. His mother’s name 
is given as “Zeruah, a widow.” Jeroboam was 
“a mighty man of valor”; Solomon had given 
him command of repairing “the breach in the 
city of David.” While he was at work, Ahijah, 
the prophet, appeared to Jeroboam; he rent his 
garment into ten pieces and thus symbolized the 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 75 

“ten tribes of Israel” over which Jeroboam 
should rule. When Solomon heard of this, he 
tried to kill Jeroboam and to appoint his son 
Rehoboam as king over all the tribes, but the 
people revolted, as we have seen. Then Jero¬ 
boam, with prophetic advice as his guide, failed 
to follow the true course; he instituted priests, 
“whosoever would, he consecrated him, that 
there might be priests of the high places”; and 
he made “molten images.” He feared that un¬ 
less he should establish altars for worship of 
Jehovah the people would return to Jerusalem 
and to Rehoboam and the tribes of Judah. This 
distrust brought down upon Jeroboam a punish¬ 
ment that sorely afflicted his wife and home. 

There is no mention of the name of Jero¬ 
boam’s wife, but he had a son, Abijah. This boy 
fell ill, and the king knew that he could not ask 
the help of the prophet Ahijah in bringing about 
the cure of his son, for a doom had already been 
pronounced upon “the house of Jeroboam” be¬ 
cause of his unlawful sacrifices and priesthoods. 

So the king commanded his wife to disguise 

' 

herself and take ten loaves and cakes and a 
cruse of honey and go to Shiloh to ask the 
prophet’s help in saving the life of their child. 
She was not to reveal her identity to the 


76 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


prophet, who was now “blind with age” and 
would not recognize her. “And Jehovah said 
unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam 
cometh to inquire of thee concerning her son; 
for he is sick; thus and thus shalt thou say 
unto her; for it will be, when she cometh in, 
that she will feign herself to be another 
woman.” 

The reader’s sympathy goes out to this obe¬ 
dient, afflicted wife of Jeroboam. Perhaps she 
had advised her husband in his political and re¬ 
ligious ambitions that caused his downfall; 
perhaps she was wholly innocent. In any case, 

her storv is a sad one. To this heart-sick 
«/ 

mother were spoken the severe words of doom: 
“therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the 
house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jero¬ 
boam every man-child, him that is shut up and 
him that is left at large in Israel, and will 
utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as 
a man sweepeth away dung, till it be all gone. 

. . . Arise thou therefore, get thee to thy house: 
and when thy feet enter into the city, the child 
shall die.” This seems, to modern judgment, 
a cruel treatment of a heartbroken mother. Ap¬ 
parently the child was not very young, for the 
prophet says that “all Israel shall mourn for 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


77 


him, and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam 
shall come to the grave, because in him there is 
found some good thing toward Jehovah, the 
God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.” Per¬ 
chance, this “good thing” was his inheritance 
from his obedient mother. Brief but tense is 
the closing sentence of her story: “And Jero¬ 
boam’s wife arose, and departed, and came to 
Tirzah; and as she came to the threshold of 
the house, the child died.” This scene has been 
painted, with insight, by G. Grenville Manton. 

Wives of Job and the Prophets 

A single, expressive characterization tells all 
we know about the wife of Job. It comes early 
in the poetic drama of this “man who was per¬ 
fect and upright” but who was tested, in his 
patience and faith in Jehovah, by rending dis¬ 
asters, losses of estate, children, friends and 
health. It was after the death of his sons and 
daughters, as well as his loss of cattle, it was 
after the loathsome, painful disease had come 
upon him, that his wife said unto him, “Dost 
thou still hold fast thine integrity? renounce 
God, and die.” If one visualizes this poem, this 
“Epic of the Inner Life,” as Prof. Genung well 
calls it, one may understand the distress of 


78 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 

Job’s faithful wife* who had shared his grief 
at earlier losses and now sees him, as 4 4 he sat 
among the ashes, in dire agony from the sole 
of his foot unto his crown.” It is much easier 
for a woman to suffer pain than to watch an¬ 
other whom she loves in such distress. The 
words of despair are wrung from her heart. 
Job’s answer is significant: “Thou speakest as 
one of the foolish women speaketh. What? 
Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and 
shall we not receive evil?” Such was the grim 
philosophy and unwavering faith of this dra¬ 
matic hero, “greatest of all the children of the 
east.” 

The significance of the answer, however, is in 
the impjied compliment to Job’s wife, that she 
did not, generally, speak as “one of the foolish 
women” spoke. She had been a true helpmeet 
in the days of prosperity; she must not fail in 
adversity; she must keep faith with God. If 
one follows, in imagination, the sequel of this 
poetic story, it is gratifying to believe that Job’s 
wife lived to enjoy, with him, the renewed flocks 
and herds of fourteen thousand sheep and six 
thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, 
and a thousand she-asses. We would like to 
imagine this faithful wife as the mother of his 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


79 


seven sons and three daughters: “And in all 
the land were no women found so fair as the 
daughters of Job.” 

Passing down, in memory, through succes¬ 
sive generations one recalls the years of Heze- 
kiah, “the good king of Judah,” and his 
prophet-adviser, Isaiah; approximately the 
dates are from 725 to 696 b.c. The mother of 
Hezekiah was Abijah, the daughter of Zecha- 
riah. One queries if her influence was 
exerted in changing the tide of affairs in the 
kingdom of Judah. His father, Ahaz, became 
an idolater in his later life and was denounced, 
but Hezekiah, to the end of his reign of twenty- 
nine years, “did that which was right in the 
eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David 
his father had done.” Hezekiah summoned the 
people to “keep the passover”; he abolished 
idolatry and tried to prepare the people to re¬ 
sist the menace of Sennacherib, the-Assyrian 
king, who had “entered into Judah and en¬ 
camped against the fortified cities, and thought 
to win them for himself.” But the people of 
Judah, under command of the king and nobles, 
cut off the water-supply from the fountains and 
brooks and saved Jerusalem in spite of the 
taunts and threats of the Assyrians. “And 


80 


WOMEN OP THE BIBLE 


Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah the prophet the 
son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried 
to heaven.” Their prayers were answered; 
Sennacherib and his warriors were slain—a 
miraculous event as told in Scriptural narra¬ 
tive—and Jerusalem was saved: familiar are 
the lines of description by Byron: 

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, 
That host with their banners at sunset were seen: 
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, 
That host on the morrow lay wither’d and strown. 

Isaiah, this friend of Hezekiah and of his son, 
Manasseh, was a man of the city. Josephus 
calls him “by the confession of all a divine 
and wonderful man in speaking the truth.” 
He was well educated, as is evident from the 
fact that he “wrote down” his words; and 
his words have been ranked as among the finest 
in world literature. He was prosperous and 
knew intimately the manners and modes of life 
of those of high rank, as he shows in his denun¬ 
ciations of drunkenness, vanity, and extrava¬ 
gance. In symbolism, he clothed himself in sack¬ 
cloth and poor garments, like a captive, as he 
taught the people of the need of uprightness if 
they would escape captivity by the Assyrians. 
He was an astute adviser of Hezekiah when the 



WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


81 


king might have sold the freedom of Judah to 
the Assyrian. There was a rabbinical tradition 
that Isaiah was cousin of King Uzziah, in the 
last year of whose reign the “call” came to the 
prophet to leave his home of plenty and ease 
and to go forth to warn the people. There is 
biblical suggestion that his wife was a “proph¬ 
etess” in her own individuality as well as “wife 
of the prophet.” From implication one as¬ 
sumes that she had made a happy home for 
Isaiah in Jerusalem; they had two sons, at least. 
He named one of his sons, Shear-jashub, mean¬ 
ing, “A remnant shall return,” from the Cap¬ 
tivity, which he foresaw and foretold. The sec¬ 
ond son bore a yet longer, more significant name, 
“Maher-shalal-hash-baz,” meaning, “For be¬ 
fore the boy shall know how to cry, My father, 
and, My mother, the riches of Damascus and 
the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away be¬ 
fore the king of Assyria.” The capture of 
Samaria in 722 b.c. was the fulfilment of this 
prophecy. 

Gomer, daughter of Diblaim and wife of Ho- 
sea, is one of the most despised women of the 
Bible; she was both foolish and wicked. Hosea 
and Amos were contemporaries of Isaiah, al¬ 
though they were older. Amos, the herdsman 


82 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


of Tekoa, spoke his visions of what would befall 
both Israel and Judah “in the days of Uzziah, 
king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam 
the son of Joash, king of Israel .’ 9 Hosea, a 
city man, extended his laments and appeals 
through the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, 
and Hezekiah, as well as Jeroboam in Israel. 
It is difficult always to separate the literal from 
the symbolic in the Book of Hosea. It is clear, 
however, that personal experiences of domestic 
tragedy formed the motive of many of his 
moods of despair, forgiveness, and renewed dis¬ 
tress at the unfaithfulness of his wife as well 
as his people. When Hosea married Gomer, 
he dared to hope that she would make him 
a happy home, for he was an affectionate hus¬ 
band, with high ideals for his family. Her 
fidelity was brief, however, and she fled with 
her paramour, leaving her husband and chil¬ 
dren. She was placed on sale as a common 
slave, but Hosea bought her and brought her 
back to her home. Several times he tried to re¬ 
cover faith in her, but his patience was tested 
to the point of despair. Finally he adopted a 
paternal attitude toward his erring wife—wife 
no longer, but protected from further disasters. 
In his prophecy are revelations of the sharp 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


83 


social distinctions in Israel, the low moral stand¬ 
ards of both men and women, their idolatry, in¬ 
fidelity, and rebellion. Falsehood and thieving, 
adultery and drunkenness, scoffings and bribery 
—such are the sins of social life found in Israel, 
especially in cities. In the writings of this 
subjective prophet there are passages of force¬ 
ful denunciation, others of intense pathos, and, 
finally, sentences of rare beauty and undying 
love. Probably the various portions of the 
book cover a period from 748 to 734 b.c. As the 
earlier prophet Joel had foreseen the forgive¬ 
ness and pity of Jehovah for the sins of the 
people, so Hosea, using his own domestic sor¬ 
rows as a lesson, emphasizes the tender and 
pitiful attitude of Jehovah toward the weak, 
backsliding “children of Israel .’’ 

In a very brief paragraph in the prophecy 
of Ezekiel we read of the death of his wife, 
as a “sign” of the death of Judah. Ezekiel 
was a son of the priest, Buzi, and was carried 
away captive to Babylonia with King Jehoiachin 
in 597 b.c. He lived near the river Chebar and 
uttered and wrote his messages for more than 
twenty years. Many of the passages are real 
poems; within these are found some of the 
familiar and tender phrases that are generally 


84 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


associated with later writings, as “Jehovah, 
the kind shepherd / 9 “showers of blessing/’ 
“a new heart/’ and other indications of the 
gentle manliness of this prophet. Of the death 
of his wife he writes with deep, restrained 
sorrow and affection: “Also the word of Je¬ 
hovah came unto me, saying, Son of Man, 
behold, I take away from thee the desire of 
thine eyes with a stroke: yet thou shalt neither 
mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run 
down. Sigh, but not aloud, make no mourning 
for the dead; bind thy headtire upon thee, and 
put thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy 
lips, and ealt not the bread of men. So I 
spake unto the people in the morning; and at 
even my wife died; and I did in the morning as 
I was commanded.” 

The Wife of Ndaman ■, the Syrian Captain 

The wife of Naaman, the captain of Syria, 
whose leprosy was cured by Elisha, is not defi¬ 
nitely outlined in the Bible. She was “waited 
upon” by the “little maid” who is the heroine 
of this interesting story. Apparently the wife 
did not report directly to her husband the words 
of hopeful suggestion that were spoken to her 
by her handmaid. The narrative says: “And 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


85 


one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus 
and thus said the maiden that is of the land 
of Israel . 9 y What were the traits of this Syrian 
woman, wife of the commander-in-chief of the 
army, we must surmise. She had wealth and 
rank. Her pride must have suffered, even if 
she lacked deep affection for her husband, be¬ 
cause of his loathsome illness. Acting upon this 
inference, John Drinkwater has given to Naa- 
man’s wife a cold, proud character, in. his 
dramatic narrative, “The Maid of Naaman’s 
Wife”: 1 

Then one day when the fans moved, and she stood 
Ministering with her perfumes at the couch, 

Her mistress, with eyes that meant the thought was 
nothing 

Said, “Is it not grievous that my lord goes thus?’’ 
And the maid felt the colour at her throat 
Flow round her neck and flood up to her temples, 
But knowing, feared not, or put her fear aside, 

And said, “Would God my lord were in Samaria, 
To seek Elisha there, a prophet, lady, 

Whom God hath taught to cure whom he will cure.” 
# 

After Naaman has been told of the possible 
cure and has started upon his journey to Sa- 

1 ‘ ‘ Preludes, ’ ’ by John Drinkwater, 1923. By permission 
of Houghton Mifflin Co. 


86 WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 

maria, the poet adds a few lines of character 
analysis: 

And Naaman’s wife saw how again might come 
Her mastery among the women of Syria. 

Yet was the little maid her hatred now, 

Lest of her word should come this resurrection. 

Jealousy would be a natural attribute in the 
nature of this arrogant Syrian woman. The 
final picture of her restored rank but unrespon¬ 
sive heart is graphic; it follows the return of 
Naaman: 

And all the city rang upon his coming, 

The king and his estate, people and priests, 

And soldiers glad of their old captain again, 

And matrons with their girls, and the rich merchants, 
All shouted, Naaman, Naaman, through the streets. 
And Naaman’s wife stood at the king’s right hand, 
Her slave-borne canopy coloured and spangled, 
While the great fans beat upon her pride again, 
And Naaman in plumes and plate and mail 
Again was master of the Syrian hosts. 

Vashti and Zeresh in the Book of Esther 

In addition to the patriotic heroine, Esther, 
who will be recalled in a later chapter, there 
are two wives of distinctive interest in the 
Esther story. Vashti, the deposed queen, beau¬ 
tiful wife of Ahasuerus in his palace at Shushan, 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


87 


is a woman of challenging personality. The 
king had given a feast for seven days, using 
his gold cups adorned with precious stones. 
“Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the 
women in the royal house which belonged to 
King Ahasuerus.” When the king, inflamed 
with drink and passion, sent for her to come to 
his feast, that the nobles, so called, might gloat 
upon her beauty and her grace, Vashti showed 
her self-respect by refusal. Says Josephus: 

‘ ‘ But she, out of regard to the laws of the Per¬ 
sians, which forbid the wives to be seen by 
strangers, did not go to the King.” This does 
not minimize her courage in refusing the king’s 
command. When he sent eunuchs she persisted 
in her declination until the king was so irritated 
“that he brake up the entertainment.” 

Vashti was a woman of spirit and intelligence. 
She had won the love of the king, for he was 
deeply grieved after he had consented to have 
her deposed and punished for her disobedience. 
He could not sleep because of his remorse. He 
realized that Vashti had humiliated him in his 
proud boastfulness, and he questioned “the 
seven princes of Persia and Media” regarding 
the best course to pursue. Their advice, ex¬ 
pressed by one of their number, Memucan, was 


88 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


that she should be deposed and severely dealt 
with, because 4 4 this deed of the queen will come 
abroad unto all women, to make their husbands 
contemptible in their eyes, when it shall be re¬ 
ported/ ’ It is amusing to read these words of 
fear of Persian women, on the part of the men. 
The 4 ‘princesses of Persia and Media’’ might 
“say the like unto all the king’s princes,” said 
the stern advisers. So the decree went forth, 
the unalterable “law of the Medes and the 
Persians.” If the result proved what the 
princes hoped, then “all the wives will give to 
their husbands honor, both to great and small.” 

In contrast with Vashti, the queen of good 
judgment and independence, was Zeresh, the 
wife of Haman the Agagite, the chief lord in 
the court of Ahasuerus after the dethronement 
of Vashti and the choice of Esther. All made 
obeisance to Him, for such was the decree of 
the king; his head was turned by flattery; the 
only person who failed to “bow down and wor¬ 
ship him” was Mordecai the Jew, the uncle of 
Esther. The vanity of Haman caused his doom; 
his wife, Zeresh, hastened its coming. There 
are Zereshes in every land and century; they 
flatter their husband’s self-conceit, and they 
lack insight and foresight. When Haman came 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


89 


to his wife, with the complaints about Mordecai, 
he received, from her and his friends, not advice 
but more flattery. After listening to his boasts, 
they urged him to erect a gallows, fifty cubits 
high, on which Mordeaci should be hanged. So 
Zeresh sent Haman forth, with assurance of her 
belief in his vanity: “go thou in merrily with 
the king unto the banquet.” 

Then the tide turned. With the irony of fate, 
upon the gallows prepared for Mordecai, 
Haman was brought to death. The king, in his 
wakeful hours, had been rereading the services 
done to him by Mordecai when there had been 
a plot against the king; Esther had interceded 
with courage and success for the lives of the 
Jews whom Haman would destroy, and she had 
brought about the condemnation of Haman. 
Again, he returned to Zeresh for help. He told 
her “every thing that had befallen him,” but 
she was powerless to aid him; she could only 
grieve and lament. Her opportunity had come 
and gone when she fostered her husband’s van¬ 
ity and foolish ambition. 

In his drama, “Esther,” Bacine gives a 
prominent place to Zeresh in the last two acts. 
She urges Haman to put aside his resentment 
against Esther and Mordecai to 


90 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


List to the counsel of a wife who fears 
Thy rashness. By the sacred bond between us, 
Conceal, my lord, this wrath that blinds thy judg¬ 
ment ; 

Clear from thy brow that frown of discontent; 
Reproaches and complaints no king can bear. . . . 
Oft has an insult borne without resentment 
Served as a stepping-stone to highest honors. 

It may not be too irrelevant to recall, in con¬ 
nection with the stories of these two Persian 
women, an nnbiblical incident recorded by Jo¬ 
sephus, and found also in Esdras of the Apoc¬ 
rypha, of another Persian feast, when Darius 
entertained the rulers of Medes and the to- 

parchs of India and Ethiopia and the armies 

« 

of 127 provinces. They drank and slept, but 
the king, wakeful, commissioned four guards 
to make separate orations upon the subject: 
Which was the strongest—Wine, King, Woman, 
or Truth. To the winner he would give a purple 
robe. Zerubbabel, governor of the Jews under 
Darius, and now one of the king’s body-guards, 
responded for woman. The information upon 
contemporaneous ideas of women’s influence is 
most interesting: Said Zerubbabel: “Wine is 
strong, as is the King also, whom all men obey; 
but Women are superior to them in power, for 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


91 


it was a woman that brought the King into the 
world; and for those that plant the vines and 
make the wines there are women who bear them, 
and bring them up: nor indeed is there anything 
which we do not receive from them; for these 
women weave garments for us, and our house¬ 
hold affairs are by their means taken care of 
and preserved in safety; nor can we live sep¬ 
arate from women. ... We also leave father 
and mother and the earth that nourishes us, 
and frequently forget our dearest friends for 
the sake of women; nay, we are so hardy as 
to lay down our lives with [sic] them. ... Do 
not we take pains and endure a great deal of 
trouble and that both by land and sea, and when 
we have procured somewhat as the fruit of our 
labours, do we not bring them to the women, 
as to our mistresses, and bestow them upon 
them. Nay, I once saw the king who is lord 
of so many people, smitten on the face by 
Apame, the daughter of Kabsases Themasius, 
his concubine, and his diadem taken away from 
him and put upon her own head, while he bore 
it patiently; and when she smiled, he smiled, 
and when she was angry, he was sad; and ac¬ 
cording to the change of her passions, he flat¬ 
tered his wife’s and drew her to reconciliation 


92 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


by the great humiliation of himself to her, if 
at any time he saw her displeased at him.” 
In spite of such an eloquent—and anticlimac¬ 
teric—defense of women, Truth was the winning 
element in this contest, because “all things else 
that have any strength are mortal and short¬ 
lived but truth is a thing that is immortal and 
eternal.” 

Susanna, the Chaste, Brave Wife of Joaeim 

In the Apocrypha are at least two women 
who are noteworthy in Jewish history or tradi¬ 
tion, Judith of Bethulia and Susanna. The 
former will be discussed in the group of 
“Women in Patriotic Service.” Susanna was 
the wife of Joaeim of Babylon. She was very 
beautiful; her husband was rich and influential; 
she was chaste and courageous. It is a some¬ 
what salacious tale in the first chapters of 
“The History of Susanna”—that of the two el¬ 
ders, or judges, who fell in love with this woman 
in her garden and threatened her with death 
unless she would yield to their lustful demands. 
According to the narrative, they discovered by 
chance their common desire for her, but they 
were in collusion in trying to force her at her 
bath. Susanna was pure in impulses, and she 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


93 


was fearless in courage; “she was taught ac¬ 
cording to the law of Moses.’’ "When these two 
men, “appointed of the ancients of the people 
to be the judges,” confronted her at her bath, 
in her garden, and gave her the choice of yield¬ 
ing or false accusation which might mean death, 
Susanna said, “I am straitened on every side; 
for if I do this thing, it is death unto me; and 
if I do it not, I cannot escape your hands. It is 
better for me to fall into your hands and not 
do it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord.” 
She came to her trial with her parents and her 
children. False witnesses declared that she had 
been seen under a tree in her garden, consorting 
with a young man, while her maids were at a 
distance. Susanna affirmed her innocence and 
called upon God to bear her witness. Then 
Daniel, as a young man, came forward, declar¬ 
ing, “I am clear from the blood of this woman.” 
He was permitted to examine the two witnesses 
separately; they disagreed regarding the kind 
of tree in question—one said it was “a mastick 
tree”; the other declared it was “a holm tree.” 
Susanna was cleared of guilt and restored to her 
position of honor in the home and community. 
Notable paintings by Rubens and Rembrandt, 
Vandyke and Veronese and, others have fa- 


94 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


miliarized us with this story of ‘ ‘ Susanna at the 
Bath,” beautiful and chaste, and the gross and 
sensual judges and accusers who contrasted so 
sharply with her. 

Mariamne, the Maccabecm Wife of Herod 

Approaching the Christian era we find our 
attention challenged by a group of women that 
are generally called Herodians. Linking the 
history of the Maccabees, that family of priestly 
lineage that freed the Jews from Syrian bond¬ 
age about 166-161 b.c., with the coming of 
Jesus, is the tragic narrative of Herod the 
Great. Herod was an Idumean; he flattered 
Rome to strengthen his power over the Jews. 
He usurped the kingdom from the Hasmoneans 
and, to appease them, he married their niece, 
Mariamne. She was granddaughter of Hyr- 
canus, the high priest, and a Maccabean prince. 
She was born about 56 b.c.; so she was only 
fourteen when she was married to this cruel, 
low-minded man, but she seemed to love him. 
Her mother, Alexandra, who was keen in politi¬ 
cal affairs and much more popular with the 
people than was her husband, King Alexander, 
regarded this betrothal with conflicting emo¬ 
tions. Alexandra had no respect for Herod, 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


95 


but she intended to use him for political ends. 
Herod had cast off his first wife, Doris, when he 
married Mariamne; with the help of two 
Roman legions he captured Jerusalem; then be¬ 
gan his dastardly career of murdering all his 
opponents among the Hasmoneans, beginning 
with Aristobulus, the brother of Mariamne, 
whom he had made high priest at her request, 
and ending with his wife and her two sons, 
Alexander and Aristobulus. This last act so 
affected Augustus that it called forth from him 
the remark that “he would rather be one of 
Herod’s swine than one of his sons.” 

It would be unjust to emphasize the cruelty and 
intrigue of Herod and to omit all mention of the 
public buildings that showed his civic ambition 
—the palaces, theaters, and amphitheaters, and 
finally, the restored or rebuilt Temple. He was 
proud of Mariamne’s beauty; tradition says 
he sent to Mark Antony a picture of her that be¬ 
came an influence to draw away the Roman 
leader from the snares of Cleopatra. Mariamne 
was a true wife to Herod, so far as the histo¬ 
rians record; she was the mother of five children 
in eleven years. At times she joined her mother, 
Alexandra, in intrigues to increase the favor of 
their family at the expense of Herod. Herod 


96 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


became incensed and embittered; in a fit of rage 
be decided to have Mariamne put to death. No 
sooner was the deed done, however, than he was 
wild with grief and remorse. In her memory 
he built one of the three beautiful towers in the 
walls of Jerusalem. His lament for her has been 
put into verse by Byron: 

And is she dead? And did they dare 
Obey my frenzy’s jealous raving? 

My wrath but doomed my own despair: 

The sword that smote her ’s o’er me waving. 

Stephen Phillips, in his drama, “Herod,” has 
many effective passages, notably the indignation 
of the queen when she discovers that Herod has 
cruelly murdered her brother, Aristobulus: 1 

v 

Mariamne. 

I am come 

From young Aristobulus that was murdered. 
Herod. 

Murdered ? 

Mariamne. 

Or taken as we take a dog 

And strangled in that pool whose reeds I hear 

Sighing within my ears until I die. 

You like a tiger purred about me: oh! 
a Used by permission of Dodd, Mead & Co. 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


97 


Your part it was to soothe and hush me while 

He gasped beneath their hands—your hands— 
0 yes, 

You were not near, ’t was yours to kiss and lie— 

But none the less your hands were round his 
throat, 

0 liar! . . . 

You! You—a sudden thing sprung up in the 
night— 

To dip your hands in our most ancient blood! 

That he should perish by an Idumean! 

Herod. 

I stand where I have climbed, and by your side 

I could not leave him— ’t was not for myself 

I struck, but for the State—’twas for Judea! 

And for the throne —your throne —your throne— 
Mariamne. 

0 glib! 

The assassin first, and now the orator! 

Misfortunes followed rapidly for Herod, after 
the murder of Mariamne and her sons; finally, 
terrible disease and constant terror lest he 
should lose his kingdom of Judea brought him 
to the frenzied condition he had reached when 
Jesus was bom. So he ordered the murder of 
all the male children, that he might not lose his 
crown to the mysterious “King” that was fore¬ 
told and had been already found and honored. 



98 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


The Wife of Pilate 

Herod died in the years 4-3 b.c., a few months 
after the birth of Jesns. In 30 a.d„ approxi¬ 
mately at that date, Jesns was brought to trial 
before Pilate, who had been procurator of Judea 
for three or four years. Pilate’s wife was a 
Koman, Claudia Procula, according to the Gos¬ 
pel of Nicodemus. Perhaps she was inclined to 
accept the teachings of Christ; perhaps she 
thought of the dream of Calpumia the night 
before the murder of Caesar. Whatever may 
have been the cause, she had a troublesome 
dream the night before Jesus was brought to 
trial. As her husband “was sitting on the judg¬ 
ment-seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have 
thou nothing to do with that righteous man; for 
I have suffered many things this day in a dream 
because of him.” She was sensitive, sympa¬ 
thetic, apprehensive; she was anxious to save 
her husband from making a judgment fatal for 
himself and the condemned man. It would have 
been well for Pilate’s reputation in history if he 
had listened to the advice of his wife. She was, 
doubtless, of a higher social rank than Pilate; 
she was allowed, by a special permit of Ti- 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


99 


berius, to accompany Pilate to Palestine when 
he became procurator, says Papini. She, like 
the keener-minded Roman women of her day, 
was interested in various “cults” and new ideas 
of philosophy and religion. That she was so 
emphatic in calling Jesus “that righteous man” 
would indicate that she had listened to him, or 
heard much about him, and had decided that he 
was guiltless and honorable. Pilate, however, 
uses the same phrase when Jesus, clad by Herod 
in a white robe, as mockery for his kingship, is 
returned to him; he was anxious to have nothing 
to do with this righteous man,” but he dared 
not face the multitude when, to his surprise, 
they clamored to have Barabbas, an infamous 
robber, released to them and Jesus crucified. So 
Pilate washed his hands and said, “I am inno¬ 
cent of the blood of this righteous man; see ye 
to it.” Claudia Procula was stronger in char¬ 
acter than was her husband, if we may judge 
by the narrative; she was earnest, intuitive, and 
Conscientious. 

The Wives of Felix cmd Festus: Drusilla and 

Bernice 

Agrippa I had two daughters who exerted 
some influence upon the political history of 



100 


WOMEN OP THE BIBLE 


their times through their marriages. Drusilla 
was the younger; when she was six years old she 
was betrothed to the son of Antiochus, king of 
Commagene, but he refused to be circumcised, 
so there was no marriage. At fourteen, she 
was married to Azizus, king of Emesa, who was 
circumcised reluctantly that he might gain this 
political connection. The marriage was un¬ 
happy. Then Felix, a freeman, became procu¬ 
rator of Palestine about 53 a.d. The beauty of 
Drusilla appealed to him, and he made overtures 
to her through Simon, a Cyprian magician. 
Felix was a Gentile, without rank, but Drusilla 
married him and was with him when Paul was 
on trial. Felix was the Roman governor who 
listened so sincerely to PauPs defense against 
the charge of insurrection and the exposition of 
“the Way.” Felix delayed decision until Ly¬ 
sias, the chief captain, should appear, but he 
instructed that Paul should “have indulgence; 
and not to forbid any of his friends to minister 
unto him.” Moreover, with Drusilla, who must 
have shared his interest, Felix called for Paul 
“and heard him concerning the faith in Christ 
Jesus.” The story relates that, when Paul 
“reasoned of righteousness and self-control, and 
the judgment to come, Felix was terrified, and 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


101 


answered, Go thy way for this time; and when 
I have a convenient season, I will call thee unto 
me.” We do not know Luke’s authority for the 
next statement that Felix “hoped that money 
would be given him of Paul; wherefore also he 
sent for him the oftener and communed with 
him.” Was Drusilla sincere in her interest in 
this apostle, or was she, also, sharing the hope 
of a bribe from Paul or his friends! One cannot 
tell, but it is significant that “graft” at that 
time was openly admitted. Felix, as governor, 
was succeeded by Festus at the end of two years, 
and the opportunity of Felix and Drusilla, “the 
more convenient season” to hear and accept the 
teaching of Paul was gone. 

Bernice, or Berenice, as it is sometimes writ¬ 
ten, the elder sister of Drusilla, was more ad¬ 
venturesome and tainted in reputation. Both 
women were beautiful, although Josephus says 
that Drusilla “did indeed exceed all other wo¬ 
men in beauty.” There was sharp rivalry be¬ 
tween the sisters and bitter jealousy on the part 
of Bernice, because of the social position of the 
wife of the Roman governor of Judea, held by 
her sister. Bernice’s first husband was Herod, 
king of Chalcis, who died; he was also her uncle. 
For a time she remained a widow but was ac- 


102 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


cused of immoral relations with her brother, 
Agrippa II. When the people were aroused, 
and cried out at Bernice in the street , 1 ‘ Shame! 
Shame!”, she married Polemo II, King of 
Cicilia, in self-defense; he became a Jew in 
religion that he might marry her. She deserted 
him, however, and returned to her brother at 
Caesarea. She was with him, and came into the 
council-room with him “with great pomp,” 
when Paul was called before Agrippa as a 
prisoner. About 66 a.d., when Florus was pro¬ 
curator and was cruelly oppressing and killing 
many Jews, Bernice appeared as a suppliant at 
Jerusalem, sending a message to him to spare 
the Jews. She was, says Josephus, “perform¬ 
ing a vow” which she had made because of 
some severe illness that had come upon her. 
Barefoot and with shaven head, she begged for 
mercy for her people, but she was repulsed. 
Her own life was in danger for a time until her 
brother appeared and made the famous oration 
in behalf of the Jews that has been recorded 
by Josephus. 

When Bernice was already a woman of middle 
age but still beautiful, she had a tumultuous 
love-affair with the Emperor Titus at Kome. 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


103 


Although she was much younger than he, she 
lived with him for many years, with intervals 
of separation, and she cherished the hope that 
he would marry her and make her empress. 
But if it was his own desire to do so, he was 
prevented by resentment of the Roman people 
against Bernice. Her ‘‘shady past” was inti¬ 
mated in certain references in Juvenal’s 
“Satires.” This chapter in her life-story has 
been used effectively by Racine in his familiar 
play, and its later adaptation by John Mase¬ 
field. The intense emotionalism of Bernice is 
reflected in her farewell to Titus, before her 
banishment from Rome. 

It was a dramatic career, this of Bernice, 
sister of Agrippa II. When she listened with 
her brother to Paul's virile defense, which was 
almost an accusation of the Jews, did she share 
in Agrippa’s feeling, “Almost thou persuadest 
me to be a Christian”! Unsettled is the inter¬ 
pretation of this sentence, whether it be sin¬ 
cerity or satire, but Bernice was present 
and must have appreciated the eloquence 
of the apostle, for she was a woman of 
keen mind and ambition, in spite of her loose 
morality. 


104 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Sapphira, the Wife of Ananias 

Many were the wives of apostolic days who 
shared the work and sufferings of the first mis¬ 
sionaries; these will be considered as “Friends 
and Co-workers” in a later chapter. In con¬ 
trast with them was Sapphira, the ill-fated wife 
of Ananias. She was the victim of divided 
allegiance, as truly as were the characters in 
John Galsworthy’s play, “Loyalties.” 

Should she be loyal to her husband or to the 
church and apostles? The community of goods 
had been adopted, as a temporary measure, by 
the early Christians. She and her husband had 
promised to abide by this code. They failed 
first when they sold their land “and kept back 
part of the price.” Whether it was'greed or 
personal need that caused the deception, we are 
not told; the presumption is in favor of avarice. 
They were untrue to the brotherhood; then they 
told deliberate lies about the price. The imme¬ 
diate death which came upon each of them was 
interpreted as punishment. There are certain 
interesting implications about Sapphira which 
arouse discussion. Was she part-owner, with 
her husband, of the land? Was she “privy” 
to the false deal? She, apparently, made no 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


105 


remonstrance. Could she have instigated the 
deception? She followed her husband, three 
hours after his report to the apostles, and she 
told a glib lie without hesitation. Was she a 
weak-willed woman, dominated by her hus¬ 
band ’s commands ? She was the victim of mixed 
motives, like many men and women of to-day, 
who desire a reputation for generosity yet have 
a selfish ambition which is more compelling. 
The strange sequel of the story must have been 
a wholesome lesson to the young Christians of 
the value of integrity as a fundamental virtue. 

Consideration for Widows 

Among the Oriental peoples, widows have 
had a sad life, full of loneliness and dangers. In 
the periods of social betterment, the Hebrews 
showed a respect for womanhood far in advance 
of their neighbors and this was extended to the 
treatment of widows. The law provided for 
consideration and care by the state for widows, 

if the families lacked financial means. Said the 

/» 

Levitical law: “Ye shall not afflict any widow 
or fatherless child. When thou hast made an 
end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase in 
the third year, which is the year of tithing, then 
thou shalt give it unto the Levite, to the so- 


106 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


journer, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that 
they may eat within thy gates, and be filled.” 
“Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the 
oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the 
widow,” was the exhortation of Isaiah. “A 
father of the fatherless, and a judge of the 
widows, is God in his holy habitation,” said the 
Psalmist. 4 ‘ Honor widows that are widows in¬ 
deed. But if any widow hath children or grand¬ 
children, let them learn first to show piety to¬ 
wards their own family, and to requite their 
parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of 
God,” was Paul’s message to Timothy. 

There are a few recorded examples of the ap¬ 
plication of this consideration for widows. A 
notable instance is the appeal of “a certain 
woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets” 
—who has been described by Josephus as the 
widow of Ohadiah, Ahab’s steward—to Elisha 
when she was tormented by her husband’s credi¬ 
tors and was threatened with bondage for her 
two children. It is an interesting tale of the 
prophet’s courteous words and practical, mirac¬ 
ulous helpfulness to the distressed widow. The 
increase of that “vessel of oil” has passed 
down to history as a Providential aid for true¬ 
hearted women in distress. It is implied that 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 


107 


the woman had some good qualities of adminis¬ 
tration and thrift, for the prophet’s final words 
to her were, ‘ ‘ Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, 
and live thou and thy sons of the rest. ’ 9 

Jesus was, at all times, gentle with widow¬ 
hood in his words and acts. One of the most 
beautiful and appealing passages in the New 
Testament is the story of the raising from the 
dead of the son of the widow of Nain. As Jesus 
approached the gate of the city of Capernaum 
the son was carried through for burial: his 
mother walked beside the bier weeping. Jesus 
“had compassion on her, and said unto her, 
"Weep not.” With swift, quiet touch, He awak¬ 
ened the dormant spirit of the boy, who then 
arose. Note the last, expressive sentence. “And 
he gave him to his mother.” It was not strange 
that “great fear,” as well as rejoicing, came 
upon the people, as they saw this marvel of 
Omnipotence, performed without any display 
or lengthy words. This recalls the similar deed 
by Elijah for the poor widow at Zarephath. 

The widow whose “two mites” appealed to 
Jesus as the epitome of true benevolence and 
sacrifice has been immortalized in literature. 
Jesus was sitting down “over against the 
treasury.” He had been teaching his disciples 


108 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


and the people of the hypocrisy of the “scribes, 
who desire to walk in long robes, and to have 
salutations in the marketplaces, and chief seats 
in the synagogues, and chief places at feasts; 
they tliat devour widows ’ houses, and for a pre¬ 
tence make long prayers.’’ While he sat there, 
watching the “multitude cast money into the 
treasury,” doubtless he saw many of them with 
“long robes” and false hearts and ostentation 
as they dropped in their large coins. Then came 
“a poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which 
make a farthing.” Often, in life, one finds an 
unexpected relief from the insincerity and affec¬ 
tation of the “multitude”; one sees, as did 
Jesus, the simple act of true religion performed 
by an obscure person. It is a blessing when such 
an experience comes; it seems to restore the 
balance of perspective on life as a whole. So 
Jesus felt, as he called his disciples to share his 
appreciation of real self-sacrifice and service, 
and spoke the words that have become an in¬ 
spiration through the ages: “Verily I say unto 
you, This poor widow cast in more than all they 
that are casting into the treasury: for they did 
cast in of their superfluity; but she of her want 
did cast in all that she had, even all her living. ’ ’ 
Perhaps it seemed improvident to be so gener- 


WIVES OF THE BIBLE 109 

ous, but the words doubtless were hyperbolic, 
that the lesson might be the more impressive 
to his hearers. Richard Crashaw, in his “Di¬ 
vine Epigrams,’’ has poetized “The Widow’s 
Mites ’ ’: 

Two mites, two drops, yet all her house and land. 
Fall from a steady heart, though trembling hand; 
The other’s wanton wealth flames high and brave, 
The other cast away—she only gave. 


CHAPTER IV 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 

T HE familiar expression, “Mothers in 
Israel,” was no mere phrase of pleasant 
sound in Hebrew history. It expresses the fun¬ 
damental aspiration of every true home-maker 
of the Hebrew people; to “become a mother of 
men from the Lord” was the goal of family life. 
Childlessness might mean loss of respect in the 
clan. Rachel lamented to her husband, “Give 
me children, or else I die.” In every period of 
history, the maternal instinct has been vital in 
the Jewish race. “Behold I and the children 
whom Jehovah hath given me are for signs and 
wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, who 
dwelleth in Mount Zion,” wrote Isaiah, with 
emphasis upon the family as the basis of their 
theocracy. The attitude of Jesus toward 
mothers and children is one of the finest, most 
significant traits of the Great Teacher. 

To the Israelites a man was, primarily, a 

father and a husband, a householder and the 

no 


i 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


111 


head of a family; secondarily, he was a citizen 
and a soldier. So a woman was, essentially, a 
mother and wife; incidentally, she might be a 
co-worker, or even a leader, on civic or religious 
occasions, as singer, dancer, musician with tim¬ 
brel and cascanets and lyre, or as prophetess. 
In these days of diminishing families among 
Anglo-Saxon races, in this time of increasing 
indifference to a home with children, the He¬ 
brews of Old Testament times and the Jews of 
later periods speak a message that cannot be 
ignored. 

In no other racial history, covering such a 
long period as that of Palestine, do we find a 
more beautiful home atmosphere reflected than 
in many of these Bible stories. Mothers, no 
less than fathers, were treated with honor and 
gratitude: 

A wise son maketh a glad father; 

But a foolish man despiseth his mother. 

i 

Domestic harmony and consideration for par- 

i 

ents declined during the later days of monar¬ 
chical misrule and of pharisaical substitutes for 
genuine morality and religion. Jesus had rea¬ 
sons for his accusation; 1 i Why do ye also trans¬ 
gress the commandment of God because of your 


112 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


tradition! For God said, Honor thy father and 
thy mother; and, he that speaketh evil of father 
or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, 
Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, 
That wherewith thou mightest have profited by 
me is given to God; he shall not honor his father. 
And ye have made void the word of God because 
of your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did 
Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 

‘ ‘ This people honoreth me with their lips; 

But their’heart is far from me. 

But in vain do they worship me; 

Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. ’ ’ 

The Mother's Part in the Education of 

Children 

In modern education we often hear the plea, 

“Give us the child until he is seven years old, 

\ 

and we will not be anxious about his future.” 
Such an attitude of mind dates from the days 
of Hebrew education. The upbringing of the 
child, in health, habits of mind, manners, 
morality, and religion, was shared by the father 
and mother in the home until the boy was six 
years of age, sometimes until he was seven. 
Then he was taken from the home, after the 
establishment of “schools of the prophets” and, 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


113 


later, schools of the scribes and rabbis, to re¬ 
ceive his training by some appointed priest or 
religions teacher. Up to six or seven years, the 
mother, assisted by the nurse, gave personal 
attention to the child’s development. 

There are several words in the Hebrew lan¬ 
guage which are used in the sense of “child.” 
Ben for son and bath for daughter are general 
terms. The word usually translated ‘ 4 babes 9 9 is 
used when the child is old enough to ask for 
bread as well as milk. The taph is the young 
child clinging to its mother. An older child was 
called almah if a daughter, elem if a son. These 
and other discriminations .are explained by Dr. 
Edersheim. Naar is the youth, shaking off ma¬ 
ternal restraint; bachur is the young man, eligi¬ 
ble as husband or warrior. The Jews, without 
studying the modern science of pedagogy, or 
even formal psychology, watched carefully the 
stages of juvenile development and applied sane 
rules for hygienic growth. 

Although there was no regular instruction for 

p 

a boy “in the schools of law and religion” until 
he was at least six years old, yet there were rec¬ 
ords of religious training which must have been 
begun at three, four, or five years. Paul recalled 
to Timothy that his instruction “at the knee” 


114 


WOMEN OP THE BIBLE 


of his mother and grandmother began while he 
was almost an infant: “from a babe thou hast 
known the sacred writings which are able to 
make thee wise unto salvation through faith 
which is in Christ Jesus.’’ In the Hebrew home 
before the time of the Maccabees there were 
“sacred writings” that were searched for and 
destroyed by their enemies. There were the 
small parchment rolls for children, certainly in 
later times, giving the history of Creation, the 
Flood, and eight chapters of Leviticus. 

The child’s religious education began while he 
was carried in the arms of parent or nurse. As 
he was taken through the doorway of his tent, 
or house, he would be attracted, as all small 
children are, by bright colors. He would find 
upon the lintel of the door the MesuSah, or phy¬ 
lactery for the house. He would not understand 
the words of pledge, but he would recognize the 
bright metal or wooden case. He would see his 
father and mother touch, this symbolic object 
with reverence, kissing the finger or placing it 
upon the sacred lintel. Such first impressions 
are lasting. As soon as the child could memo¬ 
rize, he would be taught pledges and prayers, 
verses from the “laws and the prophets,” ex¬ 
tracts from patriotic odes and psalms. The 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


115 


“name verse/’ some scripture beginning or 
ending with the same letters as the child’s name, 
would seem to be a personal pledge. Before 
the child was six years, the lessons of reverence, 
obedience, and truthfulness were inculcated, to¬ 
gether with deep, abiding honor for parents. As 
the mothers gained education—even rudimen¬ 
tary education—they became able to teach the 
children to draw letters on a board as they 
memorized their verses. There were reed quills 
in later days, payprus imported from Egypt, 
with ink of “mixed colors.” 

Education is only partially mental or relig¬ 
ious. It is, to a greater degree, imaginative 
and emotional. Hebrew mothers attended the 
Temple services and the synagogue; they took 
part in the triumphal processions and marriage 
festivals. They attended, with their husbands, 
funerals of men or women of rank. 

They met, at eventide, at the wells or gates of 
the village and city, to hear some startling story 
of some Arabian sheik, or some Egyptian or 
Assyrian or Isrselitish warrior; and they re¬ 
turned, as mothers do in every land, to tell these 
tales to the children who were left at home. 
Hebrew mothers knew folk-lore; Hebrew chil¬ 
dren were educated by an abundance of legends, 


116 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


riddles, and parables, from the days of Moses to 
those of Jesns. The “children’s hour” was as 
surely known to the Hebrews as it is to us; then 
myths, fables and fairy-tales, stories of prowess 
and romance, supplemented the religious verses 
or “birthday text.” Then around camp-fire or 
hearth all would sing odes, chants and psalms. 

Work and Play in the Home 

The physical care of the child was supervised 
by his mother with far more than ordinary vigil¬ 
ance, because maternity was considered a bless¬ 
ing of God. That is a delightful side-light upon 
the story of Samuel: the mother’s yearly visit to 
the little son, coming up to the Temple, always 
bringing him “a little robe” to wear over his 
linen ephod. One can visualize the hours of 
lonely yearning for the boy, yet of religious 
gladness, that Hannah parsed at lier work, 
fashioning and embroidering the robe; Hebrew 
women were deft with their fingers and tasteful 
in selecting the colors for embroidering the 
girdles and liead-drapes. 

Children played with their mothers and with 
other children. For the little ones, there were 
imitations of animals and birds and those gro¬ 
tesque figures of hunchbacks and deformed 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


117 


people that have been found among the relics 
of Jewish playtime. There were toys of more 
universal types, like tops, pipes, and drums. 
Flute and kinnor —or eight-stringed lyre—were 
among household treasures. While Hebrew 
boys did not excel in athletic skill like the 
Greeks, they were adept with quoits, slings, 
bows and arrows, balls, and “running to a 
goal.’ ’ Slings were their favorite toys and light 
weapons for many years. In that strange tale 
of the Outrage at Gibeah, in the battle against 
the Benjamites, it was recorded, “Among all 
this people there were seven hundred chosen 
men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at 
a hair-breadth, and not miss.” 

The “mothers in Israel” varied in personal¬ 
ities and influence, as modem women vary. Not 
many were ideally noble and gifted like the 
mother of King Lemuel’s oracle. The majority 
of them, however, were “diligent in service,” 
looking to “the ways of the household” and 
never neglectful of “the stranger within the 
gates.”' Paul had in mind some types of He- 
brew women of past history when he adjured 
older women to be “ reverent in demeanour, not 
slanderous nor enslaved to much wine, teachers 
of that which is good.” To the younger women 



118 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


he urged, “to love their husbands, love their 
children, be sober-minded, chaste, workers at 
home, kind, being in subjection to their own hus¬ 
bands, that the word of God be not blas¬ 
phemed. ’’ Paul must have had some surprises, 
in his conservative attitude toward women, 
when he came to know well, and to appreciate, 
the business ability and true religion of Lydia, 
seller of purple, and the missionary zeal of 
Priscilla, craftswoman and teacher. 

Some of the mothers listed in the Bible were 
women of noble womanhood, helpful and in¬ 
spiring; others were weak and wicked, true to 
life of yesterday and to-day. Athaliah, whose 
characterization is in the summary of her son’s 
evil-doing, “for his mother was his counselor 
to do wickedly,” was an example of the strong, 
wong kind of motherhood. Herodias is- a 
female monster; the Herodian women, in gen¬ 
eral, attest the truth of Kipling’s line, 

The female of the species is more deadly than the male. 

But there were mothers of gentle breeding and 
maternal influence of the most elevating kind, 
leaving their stamps of nobility upon their chil¬ 
dren and the state. 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


119 


Sarah and Hagar 

There were four women of prominence in the 
patriarchal age, all notable mothers, Sarah (or 
Sarai), Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah. Sarai ap¬ 
pears in the first act of her drama as a beauti¬ 
ful girl, whose name meant princess. Her par¬ 
entage is not surely known; she is generally 
called the sister of Lot, sometimes the half- 
sister of Abraham. Perhaps this latter rela¬ 
tionship has been stressed by some to excuse 
her husband for his lie to the Egyptian ruler 
who admired her lustfully. The lie was justi¬ 
fied, as a means of saving the life of Abraham 
and the honor of Sarai. It is certain that this 
incident made a deep impression upon the hus¬ 
band and wife and that they must have told it 
to their son, for Isaac used the same subterfuge 
later regarding Rebekah; it is possible that the 
two stories are different versions of one folk¬ 
tale. 

When Sarai and Abraham arrived at their 
new home in Canaan, with their flocks and herds 
and servants, after interruption caused by a 
famine and a journey to Egypt, their tents were 


120 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


pitched, the wells were dug, and all made ready 
for a new family life. It is likely that Hagar 
had joined them in Egypt, perhaps attracted 
by Sarai’s beauty, more likely given to Sarai 
by the Pharaoh in personal admiration and as a 
peace-offering for his earlier intentions toward 
her. Jehovah,‘or Yahweh, the tribal god of this 
clan that was emigrating from Chaldea, had 
promised to Abraham, “I will make of thee a 
great nation ... I will make thy se^d as the 
dust of the earth . 9 9 Only one essential was lack¬ 
ing for a happy fulfilment: there wa*s no child, 
no son or daughter, through whom this inheri¬ 
tance could come. Months, years elapse and 
Sarai mourns her sterility. Abraham and she 
are growing old. They are becoming rich in 
flocks and herds; they are establishing friendly 
relations with neighboring tribes; but they are 
childless. Finally, after consultation with her 
husband—the pioneer fathers and mothers 
seemed to consult each other freely—Sarai of¬ 
fers her maid, Hagar, as her substitute to be¬ 
come the mother of Abraham’s child. It must 
be remembered that Hagar was Sarai’s maid, 
that any children by her could be claimed by 
Sarai and Abraham, that Sarai had complete 
jurisdiction over Hagar to treat her as she 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


121 


would. Sarai was typical of her day and of 
normal, not idealized, womanhood. It was a 
humiliation to her proud spirit to accept this 
motherhood by proxy. She was more venture¬ 
some, more courageous, than was Abraham; she 
was far more petulant and irascible. It was a 
tense condition that she had created in her 
home; it would naturally breed jealousy and 
discord. 

Hagar’s name means a fugitive, an emigrant. 
She was, doubtless, attractive and spirited. By 
this elevation from the position of a slave to 
that of a concubine she became a vaunting mem¬ 
ber of the household, no longer the submissive, 
adoring maid. She was no longer a chattel; she 
thought herself almost comparable to the child¬ 
less Sarai in importance. When the latter com¬ 
plained to Abraham, overwrought by remorse, 
jealousy, and irritation, he was unruffled, as¬ 
suring her that Hagar was her maid, to be dis¬ 
posed of as she would: “Behold, thy maid is in 
thy hand; do to her that which is good in thine 
eyes.” It must have seemed “good” to her to 
be severely drastic, for Hagar “fled from her 
face.” She was probably on her way to her 
Egyptian home, in the wilderness of Shur, near 
the fountain or well in Arabia, when the occult 


122 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


message came to her to return as a prospective 
mother and to “submit” herself to her mis¬ 
tress. Then Ishmael was born, a sturdy child, 
and the household had an interval of peace. 
Philip H. Calderon has pictured, with vivid¬ 
ness, Hagar in the wilderness. 

Another act opened, however, with the visit 
of the angel to the tent of Abraham and Sarai, 
where he received hospitality and imparted the 
startling information that Sarai, whose name 
was henceforth to be Sarah, would bear a son 
in her age, which was now past maturity. She 
“laughed,” but she did not lose her faith in this 
amazing good fortune, after her many years of 
waiting and prayer. Exultant must have been 
the motherhood of Sarah, and exultant the joy 
of Abraham in this “child of promise.” There 
was an element of anxiety, however, lurking in 
Sarah’s jealous heart. Isaac was weak in body; 
Ishmael was vigorous and playful. Would it 
chance that her son might, after all, be sup¬ 
planted by this child of her handmaid in the in¬ 
heritance? Some interpret the word “mock¬ 
ing,” in the passage, “And Sarah saw the son 
of Hagar the Egyptian . . . mocking,” on the 
occasion of the feast of weaning, as “playing”; 
the earlier meaning would seem more plausible. 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


123 


The fierce, maternal love of Sarah was aroused; 
she would protect her boy from taunts, or possi¬ 
ble injury, at the hands of this slave-girl’s child. 
There is a note of strong class-feeling in this 
Bible story. Abraham’s domestic peace was as¬ 
sailed beyond repair. He must decide between 
two embittered women. As a loyal, loving hus¬ 
band, he could only send Hagar away, reluc¬ 
tantly, with supplies. She gained her freedom, 
for she could not be sold as a slave after being 
a concubine of a man like Abraham, according 
to the Jewish code; but she was lonely and dis¬ 
tressed with fear of famine for herself and her 
boy. Hagar was no longer young and ven¬ 
turesome. Again, a message of encouragement 
came to her; Hagar passes out of the story 
with the promise of succor and a great people in 
Arabia, as the descendants of her son. Some 
ingenious writer has suggested that Keturah, 
the wife of Abraham’s extreme old age, was 
Hagar returned; but this is mere folk-lore, as 
perhaps the entire passage may be. 

There is another act in this religious drama. 
When Isaac was twenty-five years old, the 
“call” came to sacrifice him on the altar; it was 
in accord with many myths of sacrifice of chil¬ 
dren among the Arabians and Phenicians and, 


124 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


later, among the Greeks. Jehovah showed his 
disapproval of such human sacrifices by furnish¬ 
ing the substitute animal; at the same time he 
tested the faith of both Abraham and Isaac. 
Isaac seems to have made no demur to the orig¬ 
inal plans. With a temperament like that of 
Sarah, the ordeal must have been fearful to her, 
although she was probably not present. There 
was a tradition that she never recovered health 
after this fright; she lived for a few years, how¬ 
ever, for she died at the age of one hundred and 
twenty-seven, only a short time before Rebekah 
came to comfort Isaac; Isaac was then forty 
years old. Mothers of all races can sympathize 
with the anguish of Sarah when this child, the 
only son that had been so long awaited, might be 
sacrificed f or a “ cause.’ ’ She had been a woman 
of strong personality, alert, brave, and faithful, 
but autocratic. By tradition, Abraham was 
“skilled in celestial science”; in Egypt he was 
able to teach the people arithmetic and astron¬ 
omy. Making allowances for such extravagant 
tributes, this first patriarchal hero of the Israel¬ 
ites was a man of good mind and firm faith; 
Sarah was a worthy companion and mother. 
With a tender appeal to his Hittite neighbors, 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


125 


Abraham succeeded in purchasing the Cave of 
Machpelah for her burial. 

The Strong Personality of Rebehah 

“And Isaac was comforted after his mother’s 
death.” In this pithy sentence is concentrated 
the affection of Isaac for Sarah and the great 
charm of his wife Rebekah. The story of Isaac 
and Rebekah is a romance with enough of bitter¬ 
ness and mistakes to make it thoroughly human. 
The first chapter is an idyl—the journey of 
Eliezer, the faithful steward of Abraham, at 
the latter’s suggestion, to the former home of 
Abraham and Sarah, there to find a wife for 
Isaac. Seldom in art or literature does one find 
a lovelier picture of girlhood than the introduc¬ 
tion of Rebekah, who fulfilled perfectly the aspi¬ 
rations of Eliezer, even to giving “drink to his 
camels.” With her pitcher, she was waiting 
beside the well; she watched the approach of 
the train from a distance, and she must have 
been excited, as would be natural for a girl of 
her vivacious, alert temperament. Perhaps she 
was not wholly surprised nor long in doubt as 
to whose messenger it was. What more likely 
than that the fortunes of Abraham and his son, 


126 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


their wealth and noble family, should be talked 
about in Eebekah’s home? For she was the 
granddaughter of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 
Her father, Bethuel, was dead, and she lived 
with her mother and her brother Laban. Kin¬ 
ship was desirable in those early marriages of 
clans. 

Eebekah was agile and generous. “And she 
said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let 
down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him 
to drink. And when she had done giving him 
drink, she said, I will draw for thy camels also, 
until they have done drinking. And she hasted, 
and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and 
ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for 
all his camels.” It was no small task, physi¬ 
cally, to draw enough water for ten thirsty 
camels, but Eebekah was strong and willing. It 
is a charming scene. She was courteous to the 
aged Eliezer. She was quick and responsive in 
hospitality. She “ran” and told her mother of 
the visitor and his gifts to her. Like any girl 
of her age, she must have been delighted with 
the jewelry that Eliezer had given to her, while 
they were yet at the well. In the report to his 
master he said, “And I put the ring upon her 
nose, and the bracelets upon her hands.” If 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


127 


the nose was substituted for the ring-finger in 
those days, as it is still in some Eastern coun¬ 
tries, the maiden’s delight was not lessened. 

Then came the story of Isaac and the mission 
of Eliezer, told first to the mother and brother 
of Rebekah. The maiden, however, was in¬ 
cluded in the consultations, and she acted with 
characteristic decisiveness. Matthew Arnold 
has pictured her character at this point in his 
poem, ‘ ‘ The Future ”: 

What girl 

Now reads in her bosom as clear 
As Rebekah read, when she sate 
At eve by the palm-shaded well? 

Who guards in her breast 
As deep, as pellucid a spring 
Of feeling, as tranquil, as sure. 

When the question was asked her, after days of 
consultation, would she go with Eliezer, would 
she leave her mother and home to become the 
wife of Isaac, there was no hesitation: “And 
they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt 
thou go with this man ? And she said, I will go. ’’ 
So, with her faithful nurse, Deborah, and her 
maidens, she journeyed back with Eliezer and 
his train, through the Valley of B^th-el and 
Esdraelon to his father’s and mother’s home, 


128 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


where the mother was no longer. Isaac was 
waiting for her, meditating, as was his habit, 
‘ 1 in the field at the eventide.” 

As a wife, Rebekah was winsome and loyal 
during the early years. She “comforted” Isaac 
in his loneliness; she provided for his welfare 
and administered the affairs of the household. 
She had practical wisdom. She kept his entire 
affection and loyalty. There is no mention of 
any “secondary wives” or concubines in this 
romance of married life. Isaac was a dreamer, 
a digger and cleanser of wells, a patient man, 
without great strength or initiative. He was 
physically the “son of the old age of his par¬ 
ents.” He has always been honored by later 
Jews; in the memorials, placed in the Cave of 
Machpelah, the monument to Isaac was the 
largest of the six. 

After many years of sterility, Rebekah be¬ 
came the mother of two sons at one birth. Sel¬ 
dom have two men been more sharply differen¬ 
tiated in story than were Esau and Jacob. 
Esau, who preceded his brother by a brief time 
in entering the world, was strong physically, dull 
mentally; he was peace-loving, content to be a 
herdsman. It was Jacob who inherited the 
alertness and beauty of Rebekah and her am- 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


129 


bition, with a strain of poetic idealism from his 
father. Rebekah was jealous, not of another 
woman in the regard of Isaac but of favoritism 
toward Esau, while she ‘ ‘ loved Jacob. ’ ’ Doubt¬ 
less, Esau’s quiet, unfretting care for his father 
appealed to Isaac, especially as blindness came 
upon him. But, says the narrator, Jehovah had 
told Rebekah, “the elder shall serve the 
younger. ’ ’ 

It is possible to explain rather than to excuse 
the bold plan of Rebekah, seconded by Jacob, to 
secure the inheritance and blessing for the sec¬ 
ond rather than the elder son. It must be re¬ 
membered that Esau had “sold his birthright 
for a mess of pottage,” an act that would arouse 
all the disgust of Rebekah. She was right, as 
was Sarah, in believing that “the inheritance” 
should come through her favorite, responsive 
son rather than through his dullard brother. 
She was deceitful, even cruel, in her method of 
attaining this end and victimizing her husband. 
She repented quickly. “Upon me be thy curse, 
my son,” was her cry to Jacob, when the fraud 
was revealed. She had engendered bitter hatred 
between the two brothers and must have lost, for 
a time at least, the confidence of her husband. 
She endured taunts and humiliation from the 


130 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


wives of Esau, the heathen wives, of the Hit- 
tites; “and they were a grief of mind unto 
Isaac and to Rebekah.” Finally, that Jacob 
might not make a marriage of like mistake, she 
sent him away to her brother Laban, that he 
might escape the wrath of Esau and secure a 
wife from her own kin. She probably never saw 
her favorite son again; she died before he re¬ 
turned from his years of servitude for his two 
wives. Beautiful, alert, far-seeing, courageous, 
decisive, impulsive—such were the traits, essen¬ 
tially feminine, of Rebekah as maiden, wife, and 
mother. Her representations in art by Murillo, 
Guido Reni, Goodall, Poussin, W. L. Taylor, 
and other artists are among the treasures of 
painting. 

Rachel the Lovely ; Leah the Unloved 

At each rereading of the story of Jacob and 
his two wives, my sympathy persists for Leah. 
She was the ill-favored, with a “cast in her 
eye,” the unloved, the patient, child-bearing, 
faithful wife and mother. In moments of emo¬ 
tional distress she reflects the bane of polygamy, 
because she could not win the love of Jacob. 
Whatever may be the estimate of Jacobi char¬ 
acter in his youth, “sleek and sly” in connivance 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


131 


with his mother to deceive his blind father, 
cleverly dividing the flocks so that his share was 
larger, he atoned for his own evil practices by 
his patient endurance of the counter-deception 
of Laban. Deceived by the latter after seven 
years of work as herdsman, when he thought 
he was marrying the beautiful Rachel, the 
younger daughter, he found too late that he was 
the husband of Leah. Then he served for 
Rachel yet other seven years; “and they seemed 
unto him but a few days, for the love he had to 
her/’ says the romantic narrator. Meantime, 
tragedy menaced this ancient “triangle” in do¬ 
mestic life. Rachel had no children, but she 
possessed her husband’s love. Their meeting 
as told in the story, was a case “of love at first 
sight. ’ ’ She must have feared, with the anguish 
of a childless Jewess, lest she might not attain 
the “promised inheritance” for the son of 
“Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Rachel seemed 
placid. She endured the triumph of Leah as a 
mother as her sons multiplied, but her spirit was 
one of sadness rather than resentment. Only 
once did she seem to arouse the temper of Leah, 
when she begged for the mandrakes, “love- 
apples,” which .the‘son of Leah had gathered, 
hoping thereby to become pregnant, for Syrian 


132 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


women used to wear these emblems upon their 
breasts. Then Leah spoke from an indignant, 
sorrowful heart; ‘‘Is it a small matter that thou 
hast taken away my husband? And wouldst 
thou take away my son’s mandrakes also?” 

Finally, after Leah had borne six sons, whose 
names express her loveless, faithful years as 
wife, Rachel’s prayers were answered and 
Joseph was born. Later came Benjamin, and 
the mother, giving her life in childbirth at 
Ephrath, named him Ben-oni, “son of my sor¬ 
row”; Jacob changed the form to Benjamin, 
“son of the right hand.” Her two sons were 
more beautiful than those of Leah and were 
deeply loved by Jacob. Rachel had an emo¬ 
tional strain of religion and of deep love of 
jewelry and household gods. Without any ques¬ 
tion of the honesty of her act, she had not hesi¬ 
tated to store away in her sack the ikons, and 
the armlets and ear-rings from Laban’s house. 
Perhaps she thought the fourteen years of Ja¬ 
cob’s service had earned these. Josephus gives 
an entertaining explanation of “why Rachel 
took the images of the gods, although Jacob had 
taught her to despise such worship of these 
gods.” He says it was “that, in case they were 
pursued and taken by her father, she might have 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


133 


recourse to these images, in order to obtain his 
pardon.” Laban calls them “the paternal 
images which were worshiped by my fore¬ 
fathers.” 

Jochebed J the Wise Mother of Moses 

The mother of Moses, Jochebed, deserves 
a high place among these “mothers in Israel.” 
She is too often forgotten in praise of her 
daughter Miriam and her two sons; tribute 
to the sister of Moses will be recorded later. 
The father and mother of such remarkable chil¬ 
dren as were Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, in the 
midst of the soul-deadening bondage in Egypt, 
must have been far more than ordinary Jews. 
Years had passed since Joseph, son of Jacob 
and his beloved, beautiful Rachel, had survived 
his experiences of prison, had interpreted the 
monarchy dream, and had become the chief 
steward of Pharaoh’s stores of grain during 
“the famine in the land.” He had saved the 
lives of his father and brothers when they 
“came down into Egypt” to beg com; he had 
disclosed himself to them and received the bless¬ 
ing of Jacob for his sons, Ephraim and Ma- 
nasseh. Now there came a Pharaoh “who knew 
not Joseph.” Years of severe hardship, “mak- 


134 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


ing bricks without straw ” for the great build¬ 
ings of the Pharaohs, had been the fate of the 
Hebrews in bondage. They had increased, how¬ 
ever, and threatened to surpass their rulers in 
numbers and possible power. So the decree of 
Pharaoh went forth to the mid wives to kill every 
man-child among the serfs. 

The father of Moses was Amram, of the tribe 
of Levi, evidently among the nobler families. 
According to tradition, the birth of his son had 
been foretold by the sacred scribes of Egypt. 
His mother, Jochebed, was inventive and daring. 
When she saw that her little son “was a child 
of promise,’’ she hid him for three months—we 
know not where. Then she had to find another 
place, and so she devised an “ark of bulrushes, 
. . . daubed . . . with slime and with pitch,” 
and put the child, within it, in the flags by the 
river’s brink. Perhaps, like Mary, mother of 
Jesus, she had womanly intuitions that her child 
would become a world leader. The spot she 
selected was where the Egyptian princesses 
came to bathe. With great care she instructed 
her daughter Miriam in her share of caring for 
the safety of the child. Miriam was an apt 
pupil, but Jochebed was the teacher, drilling the 
girl in the right words to say, if a favorable 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


* 135 


moment should come. Thither came Thermu- 
this, the daughter of Pharaoh, with her maidens 
just as in a fairy-tale. She had a mother heart 
and she sought a nurse for the child. Another 
tradition declares that several Egyptian women 
were tried as nurses without success, for Moses 
refused the breast, until his sister suggested a 
Hebrew woman. Then Moses was adopted by 
the princess and bred amid luxury and educa¬ 
tional advantages. Another tradition cited by 
Josephus is that when Moses was about three 
years old his foster-mother brought him, in 
pride because of his “comeliness’’ and vigor, to 
her father. Pharaoh took him in his arms, and 
the child, acting upon prophetic insight, 
snatched off the diadem from the king’s head, 
threw it upon the floor, and jumped down to 
trample upon it. 

Before the influence of the Egyptian court 
could make too deep an impression, Moses was 
receiving a counter-influence through the He¬ 
brew woman, his mother, who was acting as his 
nurse. She became not alone his life-giver but 
his teacher during three years, for such is the 
period before weaning according to the older 
Hebrew custom. She instilled lessons of rev¬ 
erence, obedience, and affection. Can one 


136 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


doubt that as the years passed, Moses never 
forgot this faithful mother-nurse! We may be 
sure he visited her while he was being educated 
in the king’s palace. From her he inherited 
loyalty to his race and his Jehovah. She had a 
dominant influence in his decision to leave the 
court: “he went out unto his brethren and 
looked on their burdens . 9 ’ One laments that no 
further information is at hand regarding the 
later years of Jochebed. 

Hannah, Mother of Samuel 

Reviewing in memory the incidents of He¬ 
brew history from the Exodus under Moses and 
the years of wandering, the final settlement in 
Canaan under Joshua and the established the¬ 
ocracy, with priests and the prophets as the re- 
vealers of the “will of Jehovah,” one pauses at 
the name of Hannah, mother of Samuel, in the 
days of Eli, the high priest, who judged Israel 
for forty years. Artists have given to Hannah 
a face of spiritual beauty, notably in the paint¬ 
ing by F. W. W. Topham. She lived at Rama- 
thaim-zophim, in the hill-country of Ephraim. 
She was one of two wives of Elkanah, am 
Ephraimite of good family and wealth. The 
other wife was Peninnah, and she had children. 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


137 


Hannah had no child, but, when her husband 
divided his possessions for yearly sacrifices, 
“he gave to Peninnah, his wife, and to all her 
sons and her daughters, portions: but unto Han¬ 
nah he gave a double portion; for he loved 
Hannah. ’ 9 Few passages in literature are more 
tender, more expressive of true love, than his 
words of comfort to her when she wept because 
of her childlessness, as quoted. 

With unfailing faith, Hannah went up to the 
Temple and told Eli, the high priest, of her 
craving to be relieved of her curse of sterility. 
There is a commentary upon the habits of 
women of that age in Eli’s fear that she was 
“drunken,” because of her lip-motions as she 
prayed and her evident emotion. She explained 
to him, “I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: 
I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but 
I poured out my soul before Jehovah.” Then 
he promised her a child, saying, “Go in peace; 
and the God of Israel grant thy petition that 
thou hast asked of him.” Months passed, and 
her prayer was answered. Samuel came, a child 
of much beauty and promise. His name means, 
“Because I have asked him of Jehovah.” The 
boy Samuel has become the symbol of childlike 
obedience and responsiveness to spiritual ser- 


138 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


vice. As she had pledged him to enter the 
ministry, she gave him up as soon as he was 
weaned: “she took him with her, with three 
bullocks, and one ephah of meal, and a bottle 
of wine, and brought him unto the house of 
Jehovah in Shiloh.” Sir Arthur Sullivan has 
expressed, in familiar hymnal music, the lines 
by James D. Burns that describe the “call” of 
Samuel: 

Hushed was the evening hymn, 

The temple courts were dark; 

The lamp was burning dim 
Before the sacred ark; 

When suddenly a voice divine 
Rang through the silence of the shrine. 

The old man, meek and mild, 

The priest of Israel slept; 

His watch the temple child, 

The little Levite, kept; 

And what from Eli’s sense was sealed 
The Lord to Hannah’s son revealed. 

0 give me Samuel’s ear,— 

The open ear, O Lord, 

Alive and quick to hear 
Each whisper of thy word, 

Like him to answer at thy call, 

And to obey thee first of all. 



HANNAH, ELI AND THE INFANT SAMUEL 

By F. W. W. Topham 











MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


139 


There is a later picture of Hannah, the 
mother, at home, thinking daily of her little son, 
missing him sorely yet delighting in her sacri¬ 
fice, and making for him “the little coat” to be 
taken up year after year, as she visits him. She 
was “blessed” with three sons and two 
daughters. Hannah represents motherhood at 
its zenith of spiritual joy and renunciation. 
Throughout the narrative one is impressed with 
the poetic speech of Hannah, far beyond that of 
the average woman of her times. It is shown 
in her conversation with Eli; it is more pro¬ 
nounced in Hannah’s Song. Truth compels us 
to believe that most of this song belongs to a 
far later time than that of Hannah, yet parts 
of it express so perfectly her own exultant 
motherhood and gratitude that it is always 
associated with memories of her: 

My heart exulteth in Jehovah; 

My horn is exalted in Jehovah; 

My month is enlarged over mine enemies; 

Because I rejoice in thy salvation. . . . 

The bows of the mighty men are broken; 

And they that stumbled are girded with strength. . . . 
Yea, the barren hath borne seven; 

And she that hath many children languisheth. 


140 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Two Mothers in the Judgment of Solomon 

One of the most unique stories of the Bible 
is the Judgment of Solomon regarding the par¬ 
entage of a certain child. Two women, both 
harlots, says the record, came to the wise king, 
in an agitated contest over a certain child. Both 
women had borne children; one had died and 
the other lived. Each claimed to be the mother 
of the living child; they became very angry: 
“And the other woman said, Nay; but the living 
is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this 
said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living 
is my son. Thus they spake before the king.” 
So vivid is the strange scene that one may al¬ 
most hear the wrangling women. Among all of 
Solomon’s recorded acts, none was more daring 
and wise than his solution of this matter: “And 
the king said, Fetch me a sword. And they 
brought a sword before the king. And the king 
said, Divide the living child in two, and give 
half to the one, and half to the other. Then 
spake the woman whose the living child was unto 
the king, for her heart yearned over her son, 
and she said, Oh, my lord, give her the living 
child, and in no wise slay it. . . . Then the king 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


141 


answered and said, Give her the living child 
. . . she is the mother thereof.’’ In his de¬ 
cision, Solomon showed his intuitive knowledge 
of motherhood. Many artists have depicted 
this story but none better than Raphael and 
Nicholas Poussin, among older painters, and 
William Dyce among later interpreters. 

The Grim Tragedy of Rizpah 

Before the days of Solomon, in the time of 
his father, David, occurred a tragic story of 
motherhood. Rizpah had been a concubine of 
Saul. After his death Abner was accused by his 
brother, Ishbosheth, of having taken Rizpah as 
a concubine, as a possible method of strength¬ 
ening his claim to the kingship. A quarrel re¬ 
sulted with fierce words and rebellion. Rizpah 
was the daughter of Aiah, of the same tribe of 
Canaanites as Esau’s wives had been. It is 
probable that she was attractive; she was 
surely brave. When the Philistines destroyed 
Saul’s kingdom, and David was at Hebron, Riz¬ 
pah went back to Mahanaim to be among the 
adherents of Saul’s household. Then came a 
famine upon the land. The oracle declared that 
it was because of Jehovah’s anger at the treat¬ 
ment which Saul had given to the Gibeonites. 


142 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


The Gibeonites rejected money as satisfaction; 
they demanded “blood of the house of Saul” to 
appease them. So the five sons of Saul’s 
daughter, probably Merab, the wife of Adriel, 
and the two sons of Rizpah by Saul were chosen 
for sacrifice. Rizpah’s sons were named Ar- 
moni and Mephibosheth. Upon these five men 
the Gibeonites inflicted cruel vengeance; they 
left their bodies exposed upon the hillside 
where they had been hanged or crucified. To 
the Hebrews such neglectful and sacrilegious 
treatment of their dead was most distressing. 
Thither came Rizpah in sackcloth to defend 
the bodies from the beasts and the birds of 
prey. The tale relates that she sat upon a 
rock and watched beside the unburied dead, 
from the barley-harvest until the season of 
rain. When David was told of the mother’s 
anguish and sacrifice, because of this sacrilege, 
he gave their bodies decent burial “in the land 
of Benjamin, in Zela, in the sepulchre of Kish, 
his father.” 

Turner chose this story for a typical painting; 
it has, also, been depicted, with vigor and pathos, 
by Briton Riviere. George Becker was most 
successful in his picture, “Rizpah Protecting 
the Bodies of Her Sons from Birds of Prey,” 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


143 


which was exhibited in the Paris Salon, in 1875 , 
and, later, at the exposition at Philadelphia. 
The sons are hanging against a wall; the figure 
of Rizpah is vigorous and gruesome, as she 
fights away a vulture in the foreground of the 
picture. Lord Leighton has painted the scene 
in dramatic manner. Bryant embodied the 
story in descriptive lines: 

Hear what the desolate Rizpah said, 

As on Gibeah’s rocks she watched the dead. . . . 
By a death of shame they all had died, 

And were stretched on the bare rock side by side, 

And Rizpah, once the loveliest of all 

That bloomed and smiled in the court of Saul, 

All wasted with watching and famine now, 

And scorched with the sun her haggard brow, 

Sat mournfully guarding their corpses there, 

And murmured a strange and solemn air; 

The low, heart-broken, and wailing strain 
Of a mother that mourns her children slain. 

I have made the crags my home, and spread 
On their desert backs my sackcloth bed; 

I have eaten the bitter herbs of the rocks, 

And drunk the midnight dew in my locks; 

I have wept till I could not weep, and the pain 
Of the burning eyeballs went to my brain. 

Seven blackened corpses before me lie, 

In the blaze of the sun and the winds of the sky. 


144 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


I have watched them through the burning day, 
And driven the vulture and raven away: 

And the cormorant wheeled in circles round, 

Yet feared to alight on the guarded ground. 

And when the shadows of twilight came, 

I have seen the hyena’s eyes of flame, 

And heard at my side his stealthy tread, 

But aye at my shout the savage fled: 

And I threw the lighted brand to fright 

The jackal and wolf that yelled in the night. . . . 

The barley-harvest was nodding white, 

When my children died on the rocky height, 

And the reapers were singing on hill and plain, 
When I came to my task of sorrow and pain. 

But now the season of rain is nigh, 

The sun is dim in the thickening sky, 

And the clouds in sullen darkness rest 
Where he hides his light at the doors of the west. 

I hear the howl of the wind that brings 
The long, drear storm on its heavy wings; 

But the howling wind and the driving rain 
Will beat on my houseless head in vain: 

I shall stay from my murdered sons to scare 
The beasts of the desert, and fowls of the air. 

Legends and Facts About the Mother of 
Jesus and Her “Cousin ” Elisabeth 

Separated by hundreds of years from these 
mothers of the Old Testament are a few 
strongly portrayed types of motherhood in the 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


145 


Christian era. Preeminent among them will 
ever stand Mary, mother of Jesns. Many are 
the legends and poetic fancies that cluster about 
her, but she still remains a human mother, in¬ 
tuitive, courageous, unselfish. In the Apo¬ 
cryphal Gospel of the Birth of Mary, which has 
been attributed to St. Mark, she is said to have 
been born in Nazareth, the daughter of Lady 
Anna and Joachim, both of the “ house of 
David.” Her parents were long childless and 
were taunted for this misfortune. In fact, they 
were so much persecuted that alms were refused 
to them when they were in need. Angels fore¬ 
told Mary’s birth. She was, says the same 
tradition, in Temple service, from the age of 
three to that of fourteen; she had performed a 
marvelous “religious dance” upon the steps 
of the altar. She was “loved by all the house 
of Israel” and was chosen to wear the purple 
veil. At fourteen she was espoused to Joseph, 
after an angel had appeared to him with a mes¬ 
sage and a dove transformed from Joseph’s rod 
had alighted upon the head of Mary. Seven 
virgins were her companions. 

Into the womanhood of Mary came the great¬ 
est joy and the deepest sorrow ever allotted to 
a woman. Did she compose her Magnificat? 


146 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Some authorities are inclined to doubt this; it 
may have been a composite of various older 
psalms of praise and thanksgiving which she 
had learned as a child; it may have been writ¬ 
ten, in part, by later narrators. Hannah’s 
Song was doubtless familiar to her, but Mary’s 
is more tender and ecstatic. There is beauty 
and lofty worship in the familiar lines: 

My soul doth magnify the Lord, 

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour, 

For he hath looked upon the low estate of his hand¬ 
maid: 

For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call 
me blessed. 

For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; 
And holy is his name. 

And his mercy is unto generations and generations 
On them that fear him. 

There are critics who question the details of the 
birth of Jesus. Two things are certain: that 
Joseph was a kind father to Jesus; that Jesus 
had a simple, religious home life in Nazareth, 
as has been described by W. M. Ramsey in 
“The Education of Christ.” The earlier 
events of his birth—the visit of the Magi, the 
flight to Egypt—have become a part of revered 
tradition if not of the historicity of Jesus. 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


147 


There are no recorded utterances of Mary, 
the mother, when the shepherds and wise men 
came to pay homage. She has not been photo¬ 
graphed during the years of her son’s boyhood 
when “ Jesus advanced in grace and stature 
and in favor with God and man.” Two occa¬ 
sions, at least, called forth sentences from her 
which have been directly quoted. On the occa¬ 
sion of his delay in the Temple, at twelve years, 
asking and answering questions of the learned 
doctors, she reproached him for the anxiety 
which, for three days, he had caused his parents: 
“Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, 
thy father and I sought thee sorrowing.” The 
second time that her words were remembered 
was at the marriage at Cana when the supply 
of wine gave out and she said to Jesus, “They 
have no wine.” Then, in spite of his recorded 
rebuke to her, “Woman, what have I to do with 
thee? mine hour is not yet come,” she said to 
the servants, “Whatsoever he saith unto you, 
do it.” Luke and John, who tell these incidents 
and others of a personal nature, doubtless re¬ 
ceived their information from Mary. 

One expressive sentence tells her character 
during this boyhood period of Jesus: “She kept 
all these sayings in her heart . 91 The old render- 


148 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


ing, “pondered these sayings/’ is even more 
significant. While Jesus, evidently the eldest 
son, with brothers and sisters in the home at 
Nazareth, was “subject unto his parents / 9 after 
the episode in the Temple, Mary was not forget¬ 
ful of his difference from her other children; 
but she was a faithful mother to all her house¬ 
hold. Joseph, who apparently died while Jesus 
was a youth or young man, was a carpenter. He 
taught his trade to Jesus as all Jewish fathers 
were accustomed to instruct their sons in some 
craft. We may believe that the little “car¬ 
penter’s shop” was either a part of the house 
or close beside it. It was a simple home in which 
Mary lived, but it was a deeply religious one. 
She knew the Scriptures and the psalms, prob¬ 
ably some of the prophecies, and she taught 
these faithfully to her children. She brought 
them up to attend the synagogue; when Jesus 
entered into a strange city, he went to the 
synagogue to pray, “as was his wont.” While 
he may not have been financially able to attend 
the paid schools of the scribes, it is evident that 
some of the latter became interested in this boy, 
with his unusual mind and lofty spiritual under¬ 
standing, and that they had allowed him to ‘ i dis¬ 
pute,” or talk, with them about deeper problems 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


149 


of their religion before he went up to the Temple 
for his consecration at twelve years. Those 
who explain that Joseph and Mary went to 
Bethlehem for religious reasons, as well as to be 
levied or counted, at the time of the birth of 
Jesus, assume that Mary went also in spite of 
her condition, because of her intense religious 
zeal, although Joseph alone might have been 
their representative. 

Into her home life Mary brought other ele¬ 
ments than those of open religious teaching. 
She was, like all Jewish women, careful in the 
making of bread and preparing of other foods; 
she was dutiful in all household ways. Jesus 
uses in his parables many figures of speech that 
are drawn from his intimate knowledge of do¬ 
mestic customs in a small household—the grind¬ 
ing of corn, the kneading of cakes, heating the 
ovens, hiding the leaven, the weaving and spin¬ 
ning of flax and linen, the bottling of wine, the 
mending or patching of clothes, the hunting for 
a lost coin, the wish for a place to hide treasures 
“where neither moth nor rust can corrupt nor 
thieves break through or steal.” Nazareth was 
on the caravan route, on the way chosen by 
many pilgrims, this “basin among the hills.” 
Jesus and his family had many chances to offer 


150 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


their simple hospitality to travelers and to learn 
facts about the world, outside their village, from 
these traders or pilgrims. Four other sons, 
probably brothers or half-brothers of Jesus, and 
two sisters or more shared this home. One may 
imagine that Mary had days full of domestic 
work and worry. It cannot be doubted, how¬ 
ever, that she, like Mary of Bethany, “sat at 
the Lord’s feet and heard his word,” that of her 
it might be said, she also “hath chosen the good 
part, which shall not be taken away from her.” 

There was another influence from that Naza¬ 
reth home that Mary shared. The love of 
nature, of the wheat as it grew and the flowers 
as they blossomed, of the sheep on the hillsides 
and the birds nesting in the trees. Such delights 
were reflected in the words of Jesus. From his 
mother, also, and the neighbors and guests, he 
would hear of stories like the prodigal son or the 
injustice of tax-gatherers and judges. The fre¬ 
quency of his allusions to the “poor widows” 
is considered by some writers as evidence that 
Mary was a widow, and in very humble circum¬ 
stances, during the young manhood of Jesus. 
Perhaps after the other sons grew up and went 
away from home, and the daughters married at 
Nazareth, the home was broken up, and Mary 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


151 


went to Bethany to live with her sister or other 
relatives. There is implied tribute to Mary in 
the universal chivalry of Jesus toward all 
women; he never spoke harshly of them; he 
never warned men against them, as did so many 
Pharisees of his day. He spoke strangely to 
(or of) his own mother on two occasions, if re¬ 
ports are correct, that of the marriage at Cana 
and, again, when some one told him, interrupt¬ 
ing his teaching , 4 ‘ Thy mother and thy brothers 
are without and would speak to thee.” As on 
the previous occasions—at the Temple, at Cana 
—so now he assured them that he had a wider 
mission than that to his family, that he was sent 
“about his Father’s business,” that he was a 
brother to mankind. It is noteworthy that 
Mary, his mother, showed no signs of being 
annoyed or angered by such replies. She told 
them to Luke and John afterward without any 
unpleasant comment, but rather with under¬ 
standing of their real meaning and his true 
mission. Such was a fine, noble-minded mother. 

It is evident that Mary accompanied Jesus 
occasionally on his visits away from Nazareth. 
Recall Longfellow’s dramatic dialogue on “The 
Marriage in Cana”; from “Christus: A Mys¬ 
tery.” 


152 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Architriclinus. 

Who is that youth, with the dark azure eyes, 

And hair in color like unto the wine, 

Parted upon his forehead and behind 
Falling in flowing locks? 

Paranymphus. 

The Nazarene 

Who preacheth to the poor, in field and village 
The coming of God’s kingdom. 

Architriclinus. 

And tell us, she with eyes of olive tint, 

And skin as fair as wheat, and pale brown hair, 
The woman at his side? 

Paranymphus. 

His mother, Mary. 

When Jesus returned to Nazareth and was 
rejected, perhaps his mother was there, suffer¬ 
ing and yet holding fast her faith. When his 
brothers turned away from him, assuming that 
he was unbalanced mentally—and one can un¬ 
derstand why they might think so before his 
real revelation—Mary remained faithful. How 
many of his miracles she witnessed, we do not 
know; it is not likely that she accompanied him 
upon many of his journeys when he was preach¬ 
ing. She was with him that last week at Jeru¬ 
salem and stood not far away during that last 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


153 


scene upon the cross. Every mother’s heart 
can sympathize with her agony. Seeing her, 
Jesns thought of her comfort and spoke those 
historic words to her and John: ‘ 4 Woman, be¬ 
hold thy son! Then saith He to the disciple, 
Behold, thy mother! And from that hour the 
disciple took her unto his home.’ ’ There was a 
tradition that she went with John to Asia Minor, 
where she lived for eleven years after the death 
of Jesus, dying at the age of fifty-eight. In 
literature and art, Mary, as virgin or as mother, 
has been celebrated far more often than any 
other character in history. The Madonnas rep¬ 
resent a wide range of religious and emotional 
imaginations; Rossetti’s sonnet to “Mary’s 
Girlhood” is humanly appealing. Mrs. Brown¬ 
ing has put into verse the moments of Simeon’s 
prophecy when Jesus was brought as an infant 
to the altar, and that of the Crucifixion: 

Mother full of lamentation, 

Near that cross she wept her passion, 

Whereon hung her child and Lord; 

Through her spirit, worn and wailing, 
Tortured by the stroke and failing, 

Passed and pierced the prophet’s sword. 

Elisabeth, mother of John the Baptist, was a 
beautiful character, often associated with the 


154 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


memory of Mary, mother of Jesus. She was a 
relative of tried friendship, perhaps a cousin. 
When Mary told to “Luke, the good physician,’’ 
the strange story of the Annunciation, she em¬ 
phasized that in her hour of astonishment and 
perplexity she “went into the hill country with 
haste, into a city of Judah; and entered into the 
house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth.” To 
her she sang, for the first time, the Magnificat. 
Extracts of the poetic words of Elisabeth sur¬ 
vive but not her own song. She was the wife of 
Zacharias and one ‘ 4 of the daughters of Aaron. ’ ’ 
“They were both righteous before God, walking 
in all the commandments and ordinances of the 
Lord blameless.’’ Both “were well stricken in 
years.” Zacharias was “dumb” after an angel 
had appeared to him, as to Abraham and Ma- 
noah, in older story. Zacharias was entering 
into the Temple to burn incense, as was his office 
as priest. Both husband and wife had prayed 
for many years for a child; now the angel 
cheered him: “thy supplication is heard, and 
thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and 
thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt 
have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice 
at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight 
of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


155 


strong drink; and lie shall be filled with the 
Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And 
many of the children of Israel shall he turn unto 
the Lord their God.” 

There is no exact record of the birthdays of 
either John the Baptist or Jesus; John was a 
few months the senior. Not until the fourth 
century was there special attention to the date 
of the birth of Jesus, by month or day, although 
the year 3-4 b.c. had been computed earlier. 
Julius, bishop of Rome, appointed December 
25 as the fixed date, but it has been doubted by 
many students. However that may be, one 
cannot doubt that the birthdays of these spir¬ 
itual leaders, John and Jesus, were carefully 
treasured in memory by the two mothers and 
recalled with deep feelings. There are legends 
about Elisabeth. One tells that she fled when 
she learned of Herod’s decree to kill all male 
children. With John, a tiny infant, she fled to 
a rock for shelter. Here she prayed, “ Mount 
of God, receive a mother and her child.” The 
rock opened and closed again. She and little 
John were safely inside with a light, but Zacha- 
rias was murdered on the steps of the altar. An 
ineffaceable spot of blood marked the place, ac¬ 
cording to tradition. 


156 


WOMEN OP THE BIBLE 


The Mother of Zebedee's Children 

The response to Jesus and his apostles, on 
the part of kind-hearted women, will be em¬ 
phasized in the later study of “ Friends and Co- 
"Workers.” One of these women belongs to this 
group of mothers—Salome, the mother of James 
and John, the ‘ ‘ sons of Zebedee. ’ ’ She has been 
called the sister of Mary, mother of Jesus, but 
there is no evidence in proof. It is certain that 
Jesus was often a guest at her home and that 
she accompanied him and her two sons upon 
various occasions, and was present at the sepul¬ 
cher. Their father was a fisherman; it was 
while they were with him, mending their nets 
in the boat, that Jesus called them. “And they 
straightway left the boat and their father, and 
followed him.” Whether Zebedee died soon 
afterward, or whether he resented this desertion 
from their trade to follow an unproved 
“prophet” or strange preacher, it is not possi¬ 
ble to know. He has no further part in the 
story. The mother, however, will stand for the 
mother of every age who is eager that her sons 
may have the greatest possible honors—in the 
language of the narrative, that they “may sit, 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


157 


the one on the right hand, the other on the left,” 
in the kingdom which she, in common with most 
of the people of her time who accepted Jesus, 
believed he had come to establish. It was a nat¬ 
ural request for aspiring motherhood. Her sons 
had been among the first and most faithful in 
following Jesus. They evidently shared her 
belief and hope. She is not to be condemned too 
harshly for this lack of “understanding’’ of the 
mission of Jesus, nor for her eagerness that her 
two sons might share in his earthly honors. 

Herodias, Wily and Cruel Mother 

In contrast with such mothers with tender 
hearts and religious aspirations, was their con¬ 
temporary, Herodias, faithless as wife, evil as 
mother, wily and malevolent as a political fac¬ 
tor. Married to Herod, the tetrarch, was the 
daughter of Aretas, the king of the Petrean 
Arabians. Herodias, daughter of Aristobulus 
and granddaughter of Herod, the Great, mean¬ 
while, was married to Philip, often called Philip 
Herod, at Rome. When Herod the tetrarch 
visited his half-brother Philip at Rome, he fell 
in love with Philip’s wife, and the passion was 
, reciprocated. Herod divorced his first wife 
that he might marry Herodias; she took the 


158 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


same measures to rid herself of Philip. Not so 
easily did the king of the Petreans accept the 
insult to his daughter. He came with an army 
and defeated Herod. Josephus says that some 
of the Jews thought the destruction of Herod’s 
army was due to God “as a punishment for what 
he did against John that was called the Baptist, 
for Herod slew him who was a good man, and 
commanded the Jews to exercise virtue.” In 
the character of Herodias, from girlhood to later 
years, there were evidences of passionate ambi¬ 
tion. She chafed as wife of Philip because 
Herod Antiper was his superior in position. As 
wife of Herod she complained because Agrippa 
exceeded Herod in power and pomp. She urged 
Herod to demand the same rank, for he was a 
king’s son, saying, says Josephus, “But let us 
go to Pome, and let us spare no pains nor ex¬ 
penses, either of silver or gold, since they 
cannot be kept for any better use than for the 
obtaining of a kingdom.” 

Like Jezebel, Herodias had great beauty, keen 
mind, and many wiles. She had daring which 
surpassed that of her husband, who was weak in 
her hands. Their relations were not pleasing to 
the Jews, who regarded them as illicit. Already 
complaints had been made, before John the 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


159 


Baptist added fuel to the flame of censure by 
his severe denunciation of their married rela¬ 
tions. Herod was inclined, perhaps, to listen to 
the preacher, for he seemed to have a friendly 
attitude toward him at first. “ Herod feared 
John . . . and kept him safe . . . and he heard 
him gladly.’’ Herodias, on the other hand, 
cherished a vindictive spirit and vowed ven¬ 
geance. She succeeded, on a small pretext, in 
having John Baptist arrested and imprisoned 
in the famous fortress at Machero. He might 
be released; and Herodias lived in fear of such 
a result and of its reactions upon her husband 
and herself from this fearless, righteous 
preacher. 

Then came an opportunity to wreak her cruel 
revenge. It was at a birthday feast when wine 
flowed and passions burned. Her own daughter, 
Salome, by her first husband, Philip, was a 
beautiful young girl. She would arrange to 
have Salome dance before Herod and his cour¬ 
tiers, and possibly she might become a tool. 
Doubtless, Herodias had already determined 
what “boon” should be asked by her daughter 
if chance should favor her cruel will. It must 
be remembered that this was in her time, not in 
ours. One’s sympathy goes out to Salome, 


160 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


and yet there is no evidence that she objected 
to her part in the tragedy. She seemed to act 
swiftly and decisively when she had pleased 

the king to the desired point so that he said 

% 

to her, “Ask of me whatsoever thon wilt, and 
I will give it.” There is no record of any 
flinching on the part of Salome, as she made 
the terrible request, prompted by her mother, 
nor of hesitation in carrying the gory emblem 
“on a platter” to her inhuman parent. In a 
few paintings Salome has been treated with 
more kindness, especially in “The Reproval of 
Herod” by Giovanni Fattori, where she sits, as 
a beautiful young girl, with her harp falling into 
her lap, with an expression of horror on her 
face, at John Baptist’s denunciation of her 
mother and Herod. In a recent historical ro¬ 
mance bearing her name as title, by Burris Jen¬ 
kins, she is imagined with sympathy and consid¬ 
eration, and as the victim of a tragic love for 
Stephen, the Christian martyr. Her own later 
life was one of tragedy; it was generally be¬ 
lieved that she died by violence. 

There is yet another chapter in the life-story 
of Herodias which should not be omitted, if jus¬ 
tice is to be done. She had been a selfish wife 
and a debasing mother. There came a time, 



By permission of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 


SALOME, DAUGHTER OF HERODIAS 

By Henri Begnault 

















MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 161 

however, when Herod reaped the harvest of the 
political ambitions to which he had been urged 
by Herodias. According to Josephus and other 
authorities, Herod was banished to Spain by 
Caius. The Roman emperor, however, offered 
aid and money to Herodias, because she was the 
sister of Agrippa. Her reported reply, if sin¬ 
cere, shows a redeeming quality of loyalty as 
well as pride: “Thou indeed, 0 Emperor, aetest 
after a magnificent manner, and as becomes thy¬ 
self in what thou offerest me; but the kindness 

which I have for mv husband hinders me from 

■/ 

partaking of the favor of the gift; for it is not 
just that I, who have been a partner in his pros¬ 
perity, should forsake him in his misfortunes.” 
The additional comment by Josephus provokes 
a smile; “And thus did God punish Herodias 
for her envy of her brother, and Herod, also, for 
giving ear to the vain discourses of a woman.” 

A Group of Mothers of Apostolic Times 

There remain a very few mothers to whom 
tribute has been paid by the apostles, especially 
the “elect lady” and the mother and grand¬ 
mother of Timothy. The first, lacking more 
definite appellation, was the person to whom the 


162 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Second Epistle of John was written. She is 
greeted as “the elect lady and her children, 
whom I love in truth; and not I only, but also all 
they that know the truth. ’ ’ John reiterates that 
he rejoices in her children who have been found 
“walking in truth.” That she was a hospitable 
woman, as well as a religious mother, is at¬ 
tested by the apostle’s warning against “the 
deceiver and the antichrist,” with false teach¬ 
ing; “receive him not into your house, and give 
him no greeting: for he that giveth him greeting 
partaketh in his evil works.” Evidently this 
woman had much influence in her community. 
There have been many surmises as to her iden¬ 
tity, but none are verified. To her the apostle 
wrote those oft-quoted words: “And now I be¬ 
seech thee, lady, not as though I wrote to thee a 
new commandment, but that which we had from 
the beginning, that we love one another. ’ ’ 
Greetings and love are sent to this mother also 
by “the children of her elect sister”; this has 
been surmised to be Mary, mother of Mark. 

Even more definite than the picture of this 
“elect lady,” who trained her children in Jew¬ 
ish laws and Christian love, was the influence of 
Lois and Eunice. Lois, the grandmother of 
Timothy,” the beloved child” and companion 


MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 


163 


of Paul, was a devout Christian at Lystra. Her 
daughter, Eunice, was equally devout; she had 
married a Greek of influence who probably never 
accepted Christianity. The women probably 
had been converted by Paul on his first mis¬ 
sionary journey. There was no synagogue at 
Lystra, it is generally stated. It was, hbwever, 
in the home of Lois and Eunice that hospitality 
was extended to the missionaries and oppor¬ 
tunity to preach their ‘ 4 new gospel. ’ ’ Here was 
the “unfeigned faith” which had educated Tim¬ 
othy “from a babe,” which had made him “wise 
unto salvation.” Here were taught the “sacred 
scriptures” as well as the Christian virtues of 
honor, brotherly love, and spiritual zeal “in the 
name of Jesus.” To this mother and grand¬ 
mother Paul felt and expressed his gratitude 
for the fine character developed in this home 
and exampled in his assistant, Timothy, as they 
traveled together in Macedonia and Greece, as 
he represented Paul at Ephesus and sustained 
the older apostle during those months of prison 
experience in Rome. 


CHAPTER V 


WOMEN IN PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 

NE of the most informative agencies of 



V^/ modem times is exploration among the 
ruins and archives of ancient history and the 
consequent realization that much so-called 
“modern progress” is only imitation of earlier 
achievements, adapted to later conditions of 
living. Women in this third decade of the 
twentieth century are likely to assume that they 
are pioneers in important places of business 
and civic responsibility. They emphasize, and 
rightly, the “new freedom,” the broader oppor¬ 
tunities for service that have come with the ex¬ 
tension of the franchise. In general increase of 
opportunities for women outside the home, this 
is true. We are likely to forget, however, that 
older records, on stone and parchment as well 
as in printed form, have immortalized the names 
of certain women who served well in patriotic 
crises. There were many whose “power behind 
the throne” equaled, and often surpassed, that 
of royalty. 


164 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 165 


MiriamLeader of the Hebrew Women 

Listed among women of influence for good or 
evil in the state, were a few Hebrews whose 
names are steadfast in world-history: Miriam 
and Deborah and Huldah, Jezebel and Athaliali, 
Esther and Judith, Lydia and Priscilla. Some 
of these women came forth for a special crisis 
and then returned to their homes and obscurity; 
others seem to have spent many years in public 
life, raising or lowering the morality of the 
people. In the first place, historically, is Mi¬ 
riam, sister of Moses and Aaron. As a young 
girl, saving her brother from injury by her 
watchfulness and tact, she has already been 
considered. Had it not been for her quick mind, 
perfect self-control, and fidelity to her mother’s 
instructions, the life of Moses might have been 
lost, or his part in history might have been 
wholly changed. There is implication of her at¬ 
tractive personality, her ability to inspire confi¬ 
dence, in the fact that Pharaoh’s daughter, 
Thermuthis, listened to her suggestion of a 
Hebrew nurse and acted on it at once. 

In the second scene of her life-story, Miriam 
is using her gift in music, her skill in song and 


166 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


minstrelsy and dance, to lift the people emotion¬ 
ally, to inspire them morally, and to fill them 
with religious fervor. Miriam was fitted to be 
an adviser to Moses, to be his assistant as leader 
of the women. That is a graphic picture of the 
festival of song that followed the Exodus. It is 
believed that the so-called Song of Moses and 
Miriam was of later date in its final form, but 
parts of it were contemporaneous in feeling. 
Doubtless it was antiphonal. Moses led the men, 
with Aaron and the priests taking certain parts 
in the response, Miriam and the women singing 
their lines, and all joining in the final chorus: 

I will sing unto Jehovah, for he hath triumphed 
gloriously: 

The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 

Miriam was possessed of the quality that has 
been called “religiosity,” a trait seen in many 
of the great Jewish leaders. She had, also, a 
deep sincerity, if we read the story aright. She 
was sometimes called “prophetess.” Like Car¬ 
lyle’s “vates,” she was prophet-poet. 

It is necessary to emphasize the sincerity of 
Miriam, narrating the next act in her history. 
Moses, at some time in his career, had married a 
heathen wife, a Cushite, whose influence upon 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 167 


him wag feared and resented by both Aaron and 
Miriam. It seems likely that this marriage had 
followed the death of Zipporah, daughter of 
Jethro, or her return to her father’s home in 
Midian; some scholars believe it was earlier in 
his life. Possibly, the alliance was for political 
reasons, although one does not think of Moses 
as stooping to such compromise with his relig¬ 
ious principles. However that may be, his 
brother and sister resented the addition to their 
family. The Hebrew narrator is inclined to 
believe that Aaron and Miriam were jealous of 
the leadership of Moses: “And they said, Hath 
Jehovah indeed spoken only with Moses? hath 
he not also spoken also with us ? ” The dramatic 
story continues, after the rebellion of Aaron and 
Miriam. “And the cloud removed from over 
the tent; and, behold, Miriam was leprous, as 
white as snow.” Why did the punishment fall 
upon Miriam only, not upon Aaron, also? He 
had shared in the revolf and the plot to usurp 
power. It was Aaron who undertook to plead 
with Moses for the restoration of Miriam, 
acknowledging that they both had “done fool¬ 
ishly.” The evidence of Miriam’s disgrace was 
removed, at the intercession of Moses, after 
seven days. One must remember that this tale 


168 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


was told, in form of religious lesson for the 
people, probably many years after the pass¬ 
ing of all the actors. As we see it in 
retrospect, Miriam’s conduct was foolish, but 
its motive may have been patriotic and un¬ 
selfish. 

There is another reference to Miriam which 
shows her influence upon the people, in spite of 
this reproof and discipline: “and the people 
journeyed not till Miriam was brought in 
again.” During the period of her recovery, 
they waited for her, apparently, without com¬ 
plaint, though in those days they generally 
seemed too willing to “murmur.” It was the 
“irony of fate,” or, more truly, the “will of 
Jehovah,” that none of these three leaders 
should enter the “promised land.” Miriam 
died at Kadesh, near the post where “there was 
no water for the congregation ” until Moses was 
given power to bring forth “the waters of 
Meribah” from the rock. Tradition says that 
Aaron died the same year. This was near the 
place or well where Hagar had been comforted 
by the angel when she fled from “the face of 
Sarah.” Miriam has always been honored 
among the Jews. According to Josephus she 
was the wife of Hur, one of the captains of 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 169 

Moses’ divisions of the people: when they went 
against the Amalekites, he said, “ Moses not 
being able to sustain his hands (thus stretched 
out towards heaven) he had his brother, Aaron, 
and Hur, their sister Miriam y s husband, to 
stand on each side of him.” Again, he wrote 
of the death of Miriam: “Now it was that 
Miriam, the sister of Moses, came to her end, 
having completed her fortieth year, since she 
left Egypt on the fifth day of the lunar month 
Xanticus. Then they made a public funeral 
for her and she was buried upon a certain 
mountain and they mourned for her thirty 
days.’ ’ She had coeval mention of tribute, with 
Moses, in Mi call’s review of Jehovah’s good¬ 
ness: “For I brought thee out of the land of 
Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of 
bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, 
and Miriam.” 

There have been many beautiful interpreta¬ 
tions of Miriam in art, music, and literature. 
William Hensel’s “Miriam Leading Her Maid¬ 
ens in Triumph” is a fine picture; Schubert’s 
“Song of Miriam,” adapted by Novello, is listed 
among classic music. Thomas) Moore para¬ 
phrased the Ode, attributed to her and to Moses, 
with rhythmic accents: 


170 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Sound the loud timbrel o’er Egypt’s deep sea! 
Jehovah has triumph’d—his people are free. 

Sing—for the pride of the tyrant is broken, 

His chariots, his horses, all splendid and brave, 
How vain are their boasting! the Lord hath but 
spoken, 

And chariots and horsemen are sunk in the wave. 
Sound the loud timbrel o’er Egypt’s dark sea! 
Jehovah hath triumph’d—his people are free. 

Was the grandson of Miriam, Bezalel, the man 
so skilled iii many kinds of artistic workman¬ 
ship in constructing the tabernacle? “And 
Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, See I have 
called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son 
of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: and I have filled 
him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in 
understanding, and in knowledge, and in all 
manner of workmanship, to devise skilful works, 
to work in gold, and in silver and in brass, and 
in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving 
of wood, to work in all manner of workman¬ 
ship. 9 9 

Deborah > the Judge and Military Deader 

Years pass after the death of Miriam; Joshua 
succeeds Moses, and he, also, fulfils his faithful 
leadership in this theocracy. Then come trou¬ 
blous times that are often called “the days of 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 171 


the judges.’’ Frequently we read the biblical 
passage regarding this period. i ‘ Every man did 
what was right in his own eyes,” and we ob¬ 
serve the marks of “the anger of Jehovah.” 
There were elements of idolatry and lawless¬ 
ness. There was lapse of morale, and the several 
tribes became the prey of neighboring peoples 
who tormented the Israelites, molested their 
flocks and herds, cut off their supplies, even 
threatened captivity. At such times they sought 
“men of valor,” men of physical and mental 
vigor, as their military protectors. Sometimes 
two or more tribes of the Israelites would be 
molested at the same time. Thus Ehud, the left- 
handed, Gideon, Abimelech, Jephthah, became, 
in turn, saviors of the tribes from their neigh¬ 
bors, whose attitude varied from friendliness to 
enmity. Again, we read: “the children of 
Israel again did that which was evil in the sight 
of Jehovah . . . and Jehovah sold them into 
the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned 
in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, 
who dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. And 
the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah: for 
he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and 
twenty years he mightily oppressed the chil¬ 
dren of Israel.” 


172 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


There is an important sentence following the 
above quotation: “Now Deborah, a prophetess, 
the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that 
time. And she dwelt under the palm-tree of 
Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el, in the 
hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of 
Israel came up to her for judgment.” Here are 
more facts than we generally find in the records 
of the Women of the Bible. At the same time, 
biblical interpreters have found much difficulty 
in reconciling certain statements about her 
home and her tribe with the later story of her 
association with Barak. Her name signified 
“the bee.” She was a woman of humble 
family, we may assume; else some mention of 
her ancestry or affiliations would have been 
included by the later narrators. She was the 
wife of a man of whom the name only is 
known, but nothing of his ancestry or social 
position. His name signified “torches or 
flames.’ ’ Deborah was primarily a home-maker, 
attending to her domestic duties; secondly, she 
was a judge, or counselor, of the people in her 
tribe, sitting in judgment “under the palm- 
tree.” Probably her earlier “cases” were 
those of domestic troubles or civic problems. 

Then came a crisis in the affairs of the com- 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 173 


munity. There was need of drastic action, of 
swift decision; Deborah was not lacking. The 
mild counselor became the military director. 
Sisera must be prevented from further incur¬ 
sions; he might, otherwise, take “ their daugh¬ 
ters ” into captivity. Deborah felt the protec¬ 
tive love of a mother for her children. We do 
not know whether she had children of her own, 
although it is probable that she had. We do 
know that, like many another woman of every 
age, she had the “mother heart” for all who 
were in need of her help. Determined that Sis¬ 
era should be driven out, she turned to Barak. 
Probably he had been tested before in military 
service as a “mighty man of valor.” Handel, 
in the oratorio, “Deborah,” has paraphrased 
her prayer for guidance: 

Immortal Lord of Earth and Skies, 

Whose wonders all around us rise, 

Whose anger, when it awful glows, 

To swift perdition, dooms thy foes; 

O grant a leader to our host 

Whose name with honor we may boast; 

Whose conduct may our cause maintain, 

And break our proud oppressor’s chain. 

Barak was the son of Aboniam; his home was at 
Kedesh-naphtali. His name signified “light- 


174 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


ning-flash.’’ To him Deborah tells her need and 
his “call” to “Go and draw unto Mount Tabor, 
and take with thee ten thousand men of the chil¬ 
dren of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun. 
. . . And I will draw unto thee [said Jehovah], 
to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Ja- 
bin ’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; 
and I will deliver him into thy hand .’ 9 

At this point in the story occurs a remarkable 
incident—remarkable for any age, and espe¬ 
cially for that of the time when it occurred. It 
is a tribute to the mental inspiration and leader¬ 
ship of Deborah; it may be a commentary, also, 
upon the weakened valor of the men of her 
times. “Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go 
with me, then I will go; but if thou wilt not go 
with me, I will not go.” Prompt and assuring 
was her answer: “I will surely go with thee.” 
It is probable that Deborah was willing not only 
to support Barak, and to go back with him to 
Kedesh, but to awaken the other tribes to their 
responsibility to come to the aid of her tribe of 
Issaehar. The need was wide-spread; already 
conditions were dangerous for travelers and 
home-dwellers. 

She exhorted and commanded the tribes, and 
they rallied to Barak, with ten thousand men. 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 175 


The Song of Deborah, unquestionably one of the 
oldest portions of the Bible in time of compo¬ 
sition, pictures vividly the battle-scene and gives 
an enrolment of the tribes of Israel that re¬ 
sponded to the appeal: 

Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in 
Amalek: 

After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples; 

Out of Machir came down governors, 

And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal *s 
staff. 

And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; 

As was Issachar, so was Barak; 

Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. 

By the watercourses of Reuben 
There were great resolves of heart. 

Why sattest thou among the sheepfolds, 

To hear the pipings for the flocks? 

At the watercourses of Reuben 
There were great searchings of heart. 

Gilead abode beyond the Jordan: 

And Dan, why did he remain in ships ? 

Asher sat still at the haven of the sea, 

And abode by his creeks. 

Zebulun was a people that jeoparded their lives unto 
the death, 

And Naphtali upon the high places of the field. 

Thus, with support from a majority of the 
tribes, and “deep searchings of heart” from 


176 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


those that hesitated to join the battle-array, the 
fierce fray was begun: 

The kings came and fought; 

Then fought the kings of Canaan, 

In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo: 

They took no gain of money. 

From heaven fought the stars, 

From their courses they fought against Sisera. 
The river Kishon swept them away, 

That ancient river, the river Kishon. 

0 my soul, march on with strength. 

Apparently, there was an eclipse of darkness 
and a terrific rain-storm, so that the enemy could 
not use their chariots. The horses were fright¬ 
ened. 

Then did the horsehoofs stamp. 

By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their 
strong ones. 

Victory rested with the Israelites under Barak. 
It was an important battle because of its lasting 
effects upon the neighboring tribes. Charles 
Foster Kent says in his “History of the Hebrew 
People”: “In northern Israelitish history it 
was the great war of independence.” 

When Deborah assured Barah that she would 
go with him and that Jehovah would give him 
success, she added a reservation lest he should 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 177 


be too self-confident and proud; “notwithstand¬ 
ing, the journey that thou takest shall not be for 
thine own honor; for Jehovah will sell Sisera 
into the hand of a woman.” Jael, the wife of 
Heber, the Kenite, who had pitched his tent near 
Kedesh, was to accomplish the deed that would 
relieve the land of the curse of Sisera. Appar¬ 
ently Heber, who belonged to a tribe that was 
not on friendly terms with Jabin of the Canaan- 
ites, the same tribe as that of “Hobab, the 
brother-in-law of Moses/’ was a worshiper of 
Jehovah. Was this so recognized by Sisera, as 
he fled from his chariot, after the defeat in 
battle, and rushed toward the tent of Heber and 
Jael! 

To the modern reader the old tale is convinc¬ 
ing by its very savagery of detail. With wily 
invitation, Jael persuaded her enemy, fleeing, to 
take shelter in their tent; she said, i ‘ fear not, ’’ 
and “she covered him with a rug.” Such was 
scarcely in keeping with the law of hospitality 
of the Hebrews, but this was a time of war, not 
of peace. When Sisera asked for water, she 
gave him milk. She stood guard, at his request, 
outside the tent to deny his presence to any 
enemy who might search for him, and then he 
slept. With religious zeal and brutal method, 


178 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


she killed him, driving the tent-pin, with her 
hammer, into his temples. 

This deed by Jael was extolled by Deborah 
and the later prophets who wrote the Book of 
Judges, with hearty praise. One of the most 
graphic portions of the Song is the vision of 
Sisera *s mother waiting for his return. It 
might well be possible that Deborah spoke those 
lines; they are feminine in spirit and phrasing, 
and they portray truthfully the manners of the 
times: 

Through the window she looked forth, and cried, 
The mother of Sisera cried through the lattice, 

Why is his chariot so long in coming ? 

Why tarry the wheels of his chariots ? 

Her wise ladies answered her, 

Yea, she returned answer to herself, 

Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil ? 
A damsel, two damsels to every man; 

To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, 

A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, 

Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the 
necks of the spoil? 

The Romantic Tragedy of Jephthatis 

Daughter 

Again, in the same period of social anarchy 
when 41 every one did that which was right in his 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 179 


own eyes’’ and “evil” in those of Jehovah, the 
Israelites were sorely threatened by their neigh¬ 
bor-enemies, the Ammonites, who were en¬ 
camped at Gilead. It is difficult to place this 
episode in history with definiteness; the order 
of narrative in the Bible cannot always be fol¬ 
lowed. Several of the tribes either had already 
had defenders or called upon them in later times 
of danger—Tola and Deborah and Barak of the 
tribe of Issachar, Jair, the Gileadite; Gideon of 
the tribe of Manasseh; Saul of the tribe of Ben¬ 
jamin; David of the tribe of Judah. 

For eighteen years the Ammonites had 
“vexed and oppressed” the people of Gilead, 
their neighbors. Some “mighty man of valor” 
must be found to end this marauding and men¬ 
ace. Finally, in desperation, the leaders of the 
tribe turned to an outcast, Jephthah. He had 
been exiled socially from their community be¬ 
cause his mother was a harlot. For several 
years he had been a freebooter, another Robin 
Hood, with a group of “vain fellows,” in the 
land of Tob. When his brothers who had cast 
him out, and others of the Gileadites, came to 
him with a plea that he return as their com¬ 
mander and stop the Ammonites from their bold 
forays, he did not yield too readily. His pride 


180 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


and resentment spoke in a natural reply: “Did 
not ye hate me and drive me out of my father’s 
house ? and why are ye come unto me now when 
ye are in distress?” With promises that he 
should become “head and chief” over the 
Israelites, the elders renewed their entreaties, 
and he consented. The other tribes rallied to 
his leadership. He sent an ultimatum to the 
Ammonites, demanding permission to pass 
through their land unmolested; but they re¬ 
fused. War was on, and Jephthah, with that 
strain of religious emotion which was found in 
many of the Hebrew leaders, went to the Mount 
of Gilead to pray for victory. Here he took his 
vow, a common one in that time among many 
peoples, that if he should win in battle, “what¬ 
soever cometh forth from the doors of my house 
to meet me, when I return in peace from the 
children of Ammon, it shall be Jehovah’s, and I 
will offer it up for a burnt-offering.” 

This was a venturesome vow. There were 
chances that a slave might be the first to come 
forth from the house, or it might be a maiden 
in attendance upon his only daughter whom he 
loved so deeply. Apparently the daughter 
would be expected to come to greet her father in 
triumphal dance, but who could foresee that she 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 181 

would be the first to issue from the house ? With 
timbrels and dances, with her maidens in joyful 
songs, she hastened forward. Then Jephthah 
“rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! 
thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one 
of them that trouble me; for I have opened my 
mouth unto Jehovah, and I cannot go back.” 

WTiat traits did this beautiful girl, this only 
child, show in the hour of tragic revelation of 
her fate? She knew the sanctity of a vow; her 
dominant thought seemed to be not for herself 
but for her father. With heroic courage, she 
gave the answer that has become classic in quo¬ 
tation : i 1 My father, thou hast opened thy mouth 
unto Jehovah; do unto me according to that 
which hath proceeded out of thy mouth. . . . 
Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two 
months that I may depart and go down upon the 
mountains and bewail my virginity, I and my 
companions.” The last clause in the sequel of 
this tragic prose drama has led certain inter¬ 
preters to suggest that her fate was celibacy, 
not death: “And it came to pass at the end of 
two months, she returned unto her father, who 
did with her according to his vow which he had 
vowed: and she knew not man. ’’ Such an inter¬ 
pretation may be more human, but it lacks au- 


182 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


thority; it destroys the artistic intensity of the 
story, if it be regarded as literature. Byron and 
Stephen Phillips are two of the poets who have 
found inspiration in this character of the un¬ 
named heroic maiden. Mr. Phillips has used a 
possible blighted romance in the life of the girl 
as a theme for a sympathetic appeal to her 
maidens as they waited, with her, for the ap¬ 
proaching hour of her sacrifice. After laying 
stress upon her thought of her father and her 
need of courage, he gives her two fine lines : 1 

For being his daughter, I may falter not: 

First of all things must he keep faith with heaven. 

Then, with thoughts of the loneliness of her 
lover and her father, she says: 

Sisters, two things alone I ask of you! 

First, that a little if ye can, ye cheer 
My father, either with the lyre or lute. 

Then, in that hour when the slow-falling sun 
Bring evening and the shadows o ’er his heart, 
Release his eyes of tears with music then: 

Then he be pained, yet more he better so, 

Than in a tearless patience to decline. 

1 (1 The Maiden in the Mountain ,' 1 from 11 Panama and Other 
Poems, ” 1915. Permission of Dodd, Mead, New York. 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 183 


Then him! ah, him with whom my troth I made, 

If he should, at the last, more tranquil grown, 
Ask one of you for wife, refuse him not! 

Too dear I love him than to have him fare 
Lonely and listless on through leafless life. 

And now must I go downwards to the arms 
Of my kind father. Be the blow but swift. 

The Character and Service of Ruth 

Whether the Book of Ruth be a political 
pamphlet, as suggested by some scholars in 
Hastings’s Bible Dictionary, to overcome the 
narrow prejudices established by Ezra and 
Nehemiah, or a love-idyl as many interpret it, 
or a lesson of ideal obedience and faith, it is a 
beautiful legacy in literature. Its pastoral 
background, the scenes of harvest and customs 
of the times, the heroine’s pledge of loyalty to 
her mother-in-law’s home and God, are master¬ 
pieces of dramatic picture. It is a simple narra¬ 
tive of domestic faithfulness and romance; it is 
a memorial of a beautiful, pure, courageous 
woman. It is more than story or memorial, for 
in Ruth and her words are embodied the noblest 
traits of a Gentile—such as Ruth—a “heathen,” 
as outsiders were then called by the Jews. 
Moreover, the events of the recital had marked 


184 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


influence upon history, as it is recorded. In 
spite of the non-Jewish ancestry in his mother, 
the son of Ruth and Boaz was Obed; his son 
was Jesse; and the son of Jesse was the beloved 
King David. 

In the character of Ruth were elements of 
self-sacrifice and fealty of unusual degree. It 
required courage to renounce home and kindred 
and religion, and to go with an impoverished 
mother-in-law into a strange land. Ruth was a 
woman with a fearless strain, even with a de¬ 
light in adventure. She had a firm will as well 
as an obedient mind; she had gentle words but 
dignified persistence. Altogether she is one of 
the finest characters ever conceived or chron¬ 
icled of womanhood. One recalls the sage re¬ 
mark of the Rev. Harry E. Fosdick in a recent 
sermon, speaking of the past and present, that 
as he reread the story of Ruth and thought 
about it, he realized how much we had improved 
upon Ruth’s sickle as an agricultural imple¬ 
ment ; but, he asked, ‘‘ Have we improved upon 
Ruth?” 

Orpah was less venturesome, perhaps she was 
less heroic. Possibly she had other domestic 
claims upon her in the land of Moab that she 
could not leave behind, to go with Naomi and 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 185 

Ruth to the old home in Bethlehem. Why should 
Orpah be despised for a natural decision? It 
has been said that Ruth, when urged by Naomi 
to go to Boaz and seek the shelter of his couch 
as pledge of his kinship and its obligations, 
would not think it fitting to refuse obedience to 
her mother-in-law. Naomi urged, with the 
emphasis of a command, that both her daugh¬ 
ters-in-law should remain in Moab. Orpah 
obeyed the will of her mother-in-law; Ruth, 
fortunately, did not yield. It is probable that 
Naomi, after Ruth had returned with her to 
Bethlehem, with that ambition for inheritance 
which characterized the Hebrews, recalled her 
“rich kinsman,’’ or Boaz, who was of more dis¬ 
tant kinship, as a possible husband for Ruth. It 
does not minimize the idyllic quality of Ruth as 
gleaner, graceful and attractive in the fields, 
winning the attention of the rich owner and the 
friendliness of the other reapers, to believe that 
she and Naomi were united in an innocent 
“plot” to awaken the matrimonial interest of a 
prosperous householder. Naomi had “a parcel 
of land” for Ruth’s dowry. 

Stress is laid upon the modesty of Ruth and 
her unblemished reputation for kindness and 
discretion; said Boaz: “Blessed be thou of 


186 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Jehovah, my daughter: thou hast showed more 
kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, 
inasmuch as thou foliowedst not young men, 
whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, 
fear not; I will do to thee all that thou sayest; 
for all the city of my people doth know that thou 
art a worthy woman.” So, after the refusal of 
the nearest of kin to marry her and “take up 
the inheritance,” Boaz fulfilled the obligation 
with joyfulness. It is interesting to note that 
Josephus adds a second custom to the one men¬ 
tioned in the Bible, of losing and giving the shoe 
as a symbol of his default to “continue the in¬ 
heritance,” namely, “spit in his face according 
to the law.” The narrator of the Book of Ruth 
omitted this less romantic touch, perhaps be¬ 
cause the kinsman was already married, but 
“the law” included both; as we read in Deu¬ 
teronomy, of the man that would not “take his 
brother’s wife to raise up unto his brother a 
name in Israel”: “Then shall his brother’s wife 
come unto him, in the presence of the elders, and 
loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his 
face; and she shall answer and say, So shall 
it be done unto the man that doth not built up 
his brother’s house.” 

It is more delightful to enjoy the character 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 187 

and story of Ruth than it is to analyze either. 
She seems more real than many other Bible 
women, partly because of the simplicity and the 
universality of her womanhood, partly because 
of our familiarity with the story in many forms, 
in biblical and secular poems, in art from Mu¬ 
rillo and Vandyke to Philip Calderon, Bruck- 
Lajos and W. L. Taylor, in oratorio and cantata 
from Gounod to Astor Broad. There is a ring of 
vibrant feeling that is never lacking when we 
read or listen to Ruth’s pledge to Naomi: “En¬ 
treat me not to leave thee, and to return from 
following after thee, for whither thou goest, I 
will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; 
thy people shall be my people, and thy God my 
God.” 

In admiration of the character of Ruth, with 
her spontaneity and youthful charm, it is possi¬ 
ble to forget the fine traits of Naomi as mother- 
in-law and as grandmother. How faithful she 
had been to her husband, Elimelech, and her 
two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, is suggested in 
the first part of the story. They had been loyal 
members of the tribe of Ephraim, but a famine 
had driven them all forth from Bethlehem-judah 
to the land of Moab. Without demur, Naomi 
had established her home there. Her sons had 


188 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


married, and she had endeared herself to their 
two wives. There was genuine affection be¬ 
tween this woman and her daughters-in-law, but 
it was unselfish on the part of Naomi. Bereft 
of her husband and two sons, so that her name 
should be called Mara, or “ bitter/ ’ as she told 
her old neighbors in Bethlehem, she was eager 
that the young widows should not be lonely with 
her. She urged them to return, each to her 
mother’s house; she wished for them 41 rest, each 
of you in the house of her husband.” Arrived 
in Bethlehem, she was practical in her advice to 
Ruth and her oversight for the young widow’s 
welfare: with far-sightedness and genuine love 
she said, “My daughter, shall I not seek rest 
for thee, that it may be well with thee f ” It was 
a happy consummation of family life, of joyful 
inheritance, when, the women who had been 
urged to call her Mara could say to her, as she 
took the child of Boaz and Ruth and “laid it in 
her bosom,” “Blessed be Jehovah, who hath 
not left thee this day without a near kinsman; 
and let his name be famous in Israel. And he 
shall be unto thee a restorer of life, and a nour- 
isher of thine old age; for thy daughter-in-law, 
who loveth thee, who is better to thee than 
seven sons, hath borne him.” 



RUTH GLEANING IN THE FIELD OF BOAZ 

By Louis Bruck-Lajos 








PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 139 


Two Unnamed “Wise Women " 

Two unnamed ii wise women” had parts to 
play in political affairs in certain crises. Both 
receive mention in Second Samuel. They are 
called ‘‘the wise woman of Tekoa” and “the 
wise woman of Abel.’ ’ The former was selected 
by Joab to plead the cause of Absalom with 
David his father, after Absalom had taken 
vengeance upon his brother Amnon, who had 
ravished their sister Tamar. Josephus calls 
her “an ordinary woman that was stricken in 
age. ’ ’ The biblical story is that Joab instructed 
her to disguise herself as a mourner, “as a 
woman that hath a long time mourned for the 
dead.” Thus gaining audience with the king, 
she was to speak to him as the mother of two 
sons who had striven, and one was killed. She 
flattered David at once: as “an angel of God, 
so is my lord the king to discern good and bad.” 
Finally, she told her true mission—for his inter¬ 
est was awakened—her plea that he would allow 
his son Absalom, now an outcast for three years, 
to return to his home. The “wise woman” pre¬ 
vailed, so that Absalom returned to his home in 
Jerusalem. His father, however, had made a 


190 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


vow “not to see his face”; he carried out his 
unwise determination, in spite of his deep love 
for Absalom and his tender grief at the son’s 
sad death a little later when Absalom, after 
his revolt against his father, was killed by Joab. 
David’s lament for this beautiful, reckless son 
has become one of the most familiar sentences in 
the Bible: “0 my son Absalom, my son, my son 
Absalom! would I had died for thee, 0 Absalom, 
my son, my son! ’ ’ 

A second “wise woman,” also unnamed, has 
been generally called the “wise woman of Abel” 
because she saved that city from destruction by 
Joab at the time of the revolt, or rebellion, of 
Sheba the Benjamite. Josephus tells us in his 
customary tone of assurance that “she was a 
woman of small account, and yet both wise and 
intelligent.” Sheba was “a base fellow.” 
Blowing the trumpets, he called out to his fol¬ 
lowers, “We have no portion in David, neither 
have we inheritance in the son of Jesse; every 
man to his tents, 0 Israel.” In retaliation for 
this rebellious threat, David sent “men of 
Judah,” under command of Joab, to pursue and 
punish Sheba. Sheba took refuge in the city of 
Abel of Beth-maacah. Joab’s men cast up a 
mound against the city and were about to batter 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 191 


down the wall. ‘ ‘ Then cried a wise woman out 
of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto 
Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with 
thee. ,, Joab came to the gate, and the woman 
spoke to him, recalling how 4 ‘ they were wont to 
speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask 
counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter.’’ 
Then she continued, “I am of them that are 
peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to 
destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt 
thou swallow up the inheritance of Jehovah?” 

Joab answered in kindly words: “Far be it, 
far be it from me, that I should swallow up or 
destroy. The matter is not so: but a man of the 
hill-country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri 
by name, hath lifted up his hand against the 
king, even against David; deliver him only, and 
I will depart from the city.” With intrepid 
courage, true to the times, the woman promised, 
“Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over 
the wall. Then the woman went unto all the 
people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head 
of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to 
Joab. And he blew the trumpet, and they were 
dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. 
And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.” 
Like Jael and Judith, another unnamed woman 


192 WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 

flinched not from breaking the skull of the evil 
judge, Abimelech, for the good of the people. 

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon 

The visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon 
is told in a few verses in First Kings. This 
Bible narrative has been expanded, in art and 
tradition, into a vivid, significant picture. Re¬ 
cent scholars, like Charles Foster Kent, believe 
that this royal visitor came to make political 
alliance with Solomon, such as he had already 
made with the queen of Egypt. He was the 
wealthiest and most powerful monarch of the 
times; Sheba or Sabea, in Arabia Felix, would 
be greatly strengthened by such an alliance. She 
has been called Balkis, Maqueda, Nicaule, and 
Queen of the South. Among Arabians there has 
been a legend that she had a son by Solomon 
who became one of their powerful sheiks. Jose¬ 
phus called her Queen of Egypt and Ethiopia, 
but later notes have corrected this double title. 
Her domain was noted for traffic in gold, frank¬ 
incense, precious stones, and balsam. With her 
train of camels and servants, bearing rich gifts 
of such products, she came to Jerusalem to test 
for herself the tales of wealth and wisdom of 
Solomon. 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 193 


What marked traits did she reveal? First, 
she had the spirit of adventure. Here was a 
long journey for a woman to take at that time; 
it was unusual for a queen to come to make over¬ 
tures of alliance with a king. She showed 
pluck and initiative. Second, she had intellec¬ 
tual curiosity. She came “to prove him with 
hard questions.” Perhaps these were the rid¬ 
dles of the East, so familiar in the story of 
Samson. Tradition has cited two of the “rid¬ 
dles” that she used to decoy the wise king. The 
first was to summon boys and girls, dressed just 
alike, into his presence and then ask him to dis¬ 
tinguish the sexes. This he did readily by com¬ 
manding that water he brought in basins. He 
noticed those that rolled their sleeves back, as 
girls would do', and those that failed to do so. 
Again, she brought real and artificial flowers to 
puzzle him; he summoned a swarm of bees and 
soon solved the riddle. Third, she had a craving 
for fellowship; she “communed with him of all 
that was in her heart.” Perhaps some of her 
“hard questions” related to administration, 
and she received help from this king whose 
administration of affairs filled her with 
admiration. 

There were other qualities of mind and heart 


194 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


in this Arabian queen that belong to fine woman¬ 
hood of every age. She was responsive without 
being envious. She had doubted somewhat the 
stories of this king’s prosperity and wisdom, 
but when she saw his ivory palaces, his throne 
of gold and ivory and pillared hall of cedar, his 
vessels of gold, his chariot and riders with gold- 
dust on their hair, when she listened to his 
knowledge of trees and all science of stars and 
earth, when she heard extracts from his hun¬ 
dreds of poems and proverbs, “ there was no 
more spirit in her.” To her credit be it said 
that she had not only the appreciative mind but 
the expressive tongue. With grace and dignity 
she congratulated the king and his people: “It 
was a true report that I heard in mine own land 
of thine acts, and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I 
believed not the words, until I came, and mine 
eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not 
told me; thy wisdom and prosperity exceed the 
fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy 
are these thy servants, that stand continually 
before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed 
be Jehovah thy God, who delighted in thee, to 
set thee on the throne of Israel; because Jeho¬ 
vah loved Israel for ever, therefore made he 
thee king, to do justice and righteousness. ” 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 195 


With graceful and generous exchange of 
courtesies, this visit was ended. She gave to 
Solomon “a hundred and twenty talents of gold 
[a talent equals $32,805 in United States 
money, according to biblical scholars], and of 
spices very great store, and precious stones; 
there came no more such abundance of spices as 
these which the queen of Sheba gave to king 
Solomon.’’ It has been asserted that the later 
use of spices and choice perfumes among the 
Jews dated from the first invoice brought by 
this queen. In turn, “king Solomon gave to the 
queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she 
asked, besides that which Solomon gave her of 
his royal bounty.” It is likely that the first 
phrases indicate her “desire” for political 
fealty between the two countries. Then this 
queen, courageous, resourceful, appreciative, 
generous, “turned, and went to her own land, 
she and her servants.” 

Jezebel, the Strong Evil Queen 

If often happens in history that as a nation 
lapses socially the men become weak and the 
women wicked. After the deaths of David and 
Solomon and the division of their prosperous 
kingdom into the separate kingdoms of Israel 


196 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


and Judah, “evil days” befell both peoples. 
About 880-860 b.c. Ahab son of Omri was reign¬ 
ing over Israel while Asa was king of Judah. 
For twenty-two years Ahab ruled; his character 
has been summarized in two sentences in I 
Kings: “And Ahab the son of Omri did that 
which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, above 
all that were before him. And it came to pass, 
as if it had been a light thing for him to walk 
in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that 
he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal 
king of the Sidonians, and went and served 
Baal, and worshipped him. ’’ 

Certain inferences that are omitted in this 
narrative are supplied by other historians. The 
marriage with Jezebel was considered a great 
political alliance, because Ethbaal was the most 
famous king of Phenicia ,since the days of 
Hiram of Tyre. His daughter represented the 
culture and ambition of the nation; she was edu¬ 
cated, able to write, keen and aspiring. She en¬ 
couraged Ahab to build cities and palaces of 
ivory and to cultivate arts and beauty. It has 
been suggested that the celebration of this mar¬ 
riage was the occasion of one of the nuptial 
psalms. That Ahab built temples for her 
heathen gods, especially Astarte, was natural, 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 197 


just as Solomon had built temples for his 
heathen wives. It has even been maintained 
that Ahab did not worship these heathen gods 
himself but was true to Jehovah, because of the 
names that he gave his children, Ahaziah and 
Jeboram. Certain it is that Jezebel carried on 
her idolatrous practices to excess. She had 
groves and temples for her gods; she enter¬ 
tained “four hundred prophets of Baal” at her 
table daily, according to the old narrative. 

Even as she feasted these prophets and in¬ 
creased her wealth and power, so also she hated 
bitterly Elijah, the prophet of Israel. Ahab 
called him “thou troubler of Israel/’ but the 
king was afraid of the prophet and his denun¬ 
ciations. He was weak, however, before the 
vehement queen who had caused to be killed 
many prophets of Jehovah, although Elijah 
had hidden one hundred in a cave and fed them 
with bread and water. One queries how many 
prophets there were at this time in actual 
service or in the “schools.” Elijah’s life was 
in danger from Jezebel, and so he fled to the 
wilderness. He emerged, however, in time of 
drought, for Ahab was in need of Jehovah’s 
aid. Then Elijah suggested that contest of the 
gods on Mount Carmel which is one of the few 


198 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


amusing passages in Hebrew history. The fine 
irony of Elijah’s mocking, as the worshipers of 
Baal called in vain upon their gods, is dramatic: 
‘ 4 Cry aloud, for he is a god: either he is mus¬ 
ing, or he is gone aside, or he is on a jour¬ 
ney, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be 
awaked.” Then came the response from Je¬ 
hovah, the rain, followed by what, as we see it 
to-day, was the bloodthirsty revenge of Elijah, 
who commanded that the four hundred prophets 
of Baal should be killed by the sword. This 
was a political necessity; it seems like a general 
slaughter. One must always make allowance 
for the possible hyperbole of later narrators. 
It was, in reality, no more severe than many 
episodes in later wars. It was not strange that 
when Ahab told the vindictive queen of this 
deed, she registered a vow to destroy Elijah. 

Another incident shows the alert mind and 
strong will of Jezebel. It is the familiar story 
of Naboth’s vineyard. Naboth had estates and 
a fine vineyard in Jezreel, close to the king’s 
palace. In envy, Ahab desired the vineyard, and 
he offered to Naboth either another vineyard 
or “the worth of it in money.” It is evident 
that Naboth had no respect for Jezebel, that he 
hated her origin and her heathen religion. The 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 199 


king’s wish was not law in his sight. With 
defiance Naboth said, “Jehovah forbid it’me, 
that I should give the inheritance of my fathers 
unto thee. ’ ’ Ahab returned to his home, * ‘heavy 
and displeased.” He refused to eat; he lay 
down upon his bed and turned his face away in 
petulant anger. Then Jezebel took the helm, 
as she had done many times in this domestic 
“ship of state.” With the decision of a later 
Lady Macbeth, she said to him, “Dost thou now 
govern the kingdom of Israeli arise, and eat 
bread, and let thy heart be merry: I will give 
thee the vineyard.” So she “wrote letters in 
Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal,” 
planning her method of vengeance upon Naboth. 
By false witnesses she charged him with cursing 
God and the king. She won her intrigue, and 
Naboth was stoned to death. Swift and sure 
were the plots of this relentless and resource¬ 
ful woman queen. Her tragic fate was ac¬ 
counted as Jehovah’s retribution for her crime 
against Naboth. 

The death of Jezebel was as dramatic as her 
life had been. She must have been an old 
woman when news came to her of her pending 
doom. Jehu, king of Israel, had refused to make 
peace with her son Joram, saying, “What peace, 


200 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel 
and her witchcrafts are so many V ’ It is justice 
to note that later prophets, writing this story, 
were merciless upon Jezebel’s memory. There 

has been a question whether she was guilty of 

« 

licentious practices other than such as may have 
crept into her heathen altars. When her fated 
day came, Jehu hastened toward Jezreel. She 
heard that he was on the way; with typical defi¬ 
ance she “painted her eyes [with antimony to 
make them lustrous], and attired her head, and 
looked out at the window.” Then with chal¬ 
lenge she called down to Jehu, as he entered the 
gate, “Is it peace, thou Zimri, thy master’s 
murderer?” This was a taunt to the man who 
had slain both Joram, her son, king of Israel, 
and Ahaziah, king of Judah. As soon as Jehu 
recognized Jezebel, he commanded the eunuchs 
to throw her down from the window into the 
courtyard. The horses trampled her body, as 
Elijah had foretold. Jehu, however, because 
“she was a king’s daughter,” would have ac¬ 
corded her decent burial, but her body was too 
badly mangled; it was left for further fulfil¬ 
ment of the prophet’s words, “the dogs shall 
eat Jezebel. ” It is a gruesome story, told with 
the vigor and intensity of the Hebrew historian 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 201 


when he is recounting the fate of his enemies. 
The name of Jezebel has been associated with 
cruelty, revenge, and idolatry; one must add the 
qualities of keenness of intellect, strength of 
will, and high material ambitions. She must be 
judged by the standards of her own age. T. M. 
Hooke has used her life-incidents for two 
graphic pictures. 

Athaliah, Regent and Traitor 

What chance had Athaliah, child of weak 
Ahab and wicked Jezebel? Bred among the con¬ 
ditions of deceit and plotting, with idolatry ever 
before her, she was wilful, proud, and sinister in 
influence. Her character as it appeared to the 
Hebrew narrator was summarized in the sen¬ 
tences: “So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram . . . 
reigned . . . and his mother’s name was 
Athaliah the daughter of Omri [or Ahab, son of 
Omri]. He also walked in the ways of the house 
of Ahab; for his mother was his counsellor to 
do wickedly. ’ ’ The marriage of Athaliah, whose 
father had been king of Israel, to Jehoram of the 
kingdom of Judah was a political event of great 
importance. One reaction was to introduce 
heathen worship into the southern kingdom. 
Says Josephus of Jehoram: “And it was Ath- 


202 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


aliah, the daughter of Ahab whom he had mar¬ 
ried who taught him to be a bad man in other 
respects, and also to worship foreign gods.” 

Little is recorded of Athaliah, except these 
general statements of her as wife and mother, 
until about 842 b.c., when she became acting 
queen for six years. To accomplish this ambi¬ 
tion, she used her cruel power to its fullest ex¬ 
tent. When she found that Ahaziah, her son, 
had been killed by Jehu, as related above, she 
determined that she would destroy “all the seed 
royal of the house of Judah” and become ruler. 
She was foiled, however, by the quick action of 
Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram 
and the wife of Jehoiada, the high priest. She 
took little Joash, her nephew, then an infant, 
and hid him, with his nurse “in the bedcham¬ 
ber.” Later he was “brought up” in the Tem¬ 
ple, ‘ ‘ hid in the house of God six years. ’ ’ Mean¬ 
time “Athaliah reigned over the land” with her 
strong will. She must have been a woman of 
mental acumen, as well as physical bravery, in 
addition to her dishonesty and usurpation. 

During the six years while little Joash was 
growing in vigor trained by Jehoiada and his 
wife to know the “will of Jehovah” and to have 
noble ideals of kingship for Judah, the high- 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 203 


priest was strengthening the army, arousing all 
“the captains of hundreds/’ the “Levites out 
of the cities of Judah/’ and “the heads of 
fathers’ houses of Israel.” They came to Jeru¬ 
salem and made a covenant to serve the young 
Joash as their king. He gave to them the spears 
and bucklers and shields that had been King 
David’s that were still “in the house of God.” 
He enrolled some of them as porters, at 
thresholds; others at the king’s house and the 
gate. All were ready for the assembly, with 
their arms about them. Athaliah had her own 
army in order, also, for she had noticed some 
unrest. “Then they brought out the king’s son, 
and put the crown upon him, and gave him the 
testimony, and made him king: and Jehoiada 
and his sons anointed him; and they said, Long 
live the king.” 

At this dramatic moment, Athaliah, hearing 
the shouts of the people, came out toward the 
“house of Jehovah.” With amazement and 
anger, she beheld this little king standing by the 
pillar at the entrance, “and the captains and 
the trumpets by the king.” There were loud 
blasts from the trumpets, loud psalms from the 
singers and players of instruments. Then Ath¬ 
aliah, the proud, vengeful queen, was trapped 


204 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


but still defiant. She “rent her clothes, and 
said, Treason! treason!” With characteristic 
severity, Jehoiada pronounced her doom. To 
the captain he said: “Have her forth between 
the ranks; and whoso followeth her, let him be 
slain with the sword: for the priest said, Slay 
her not in the house of Jehovah. So they made 
way for her; and she went to the entrance of the 
horse gate to the king’s house: and they slew 
her there.” Another chapter completes this 
dramatic story of Athaliah. The people has¬ 
tened to the “house of Baal, and brake it down, 
and brake his altars and his images in pieces, 
and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the 
altars. . . . So all the people of the land re¬ 
joiced, and the city was quiet. And Athaliah 
they had slain with the sword. ’’ 

One of the finest compositions by Mendelssohn 
is his “Atalie,” with “The War March of the 
Priests.” Racine found in this character a 
theme for vivid portrayal. He introduced into 
the play the high priest, “Mattan, the priest of 
Baal, Abner, chief of the king’s officers, and 
other effective participants in the tragic, yet in¬ 
spiring, scene of Athaliah’s downfall. He gives 
a wistful touch of imagination to the lines where 
she first sees Joash: 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 205 

And straight her tongue seems frozen in her mouth, 
And all her boldness utterly abashed; 

She could not move her eyes, in terror fix’d 
And strange surprise on young Eliakim [Joash]. 

She says 

The sweetness of his voice, his infant grace 
Unconsciously made enmity give way 
To—can it be compassion "that I feel ? 

Huldah, the Prophetess 

In the days of another “good king,” Josiah, 
and Hilkiah, his priest, with an approximate 
date of 620 b.c., there was a prophetess named 
Huldah who performed noteworthy services for 
her king. The biblical account, given in both 
Second Kings and Second Chronicles, says that 
“she dwelt in the second quarter of Jerusalem.” 
This was near the fishgate, “which lay on the 
north or northwest of the citv.” Near this 
was the “college” or “house of instruction.” 
Huldah was the wife of Shallum, the son of 
Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the ward¬ 
robe. Josephus summarizes her social position 
in the words, “Huldah the prophetess, the wife 
of Shallum (which Shallum was a man of dig¬ 
nity, and of an eminent family).” 

Huldah must have witnessed many “evil 


206 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


days ’’ in Jerusalem. She had suffered from the 
results of the reign of Manasseh, who had “shed 
innocent blood very much, till he had filled 
Jerusalem from one end to another,” although 
he reformed before his death and restored the 
worship of Jehovah. After his death came 
Amon, his son, who continued the family habit 
of serving idols and doing “that which was evil 
in the sight of Jehovah.” Amon reigned only 
two years and was succeeded by Josiah, who 
broke away from idolatry and will go down in 
memory as the king in whose reign the Temple 
was repaired, the Book of the Law found, the 
altars to idols broken down, and the law of 
Jehovah interpreted and enforced. The mother 
of Josiah was Jedidah; his father died when 
he was eight years old. Much of the training 
of the boy-king must have devolved upon his 
mother. It is safe to assume that she was a 
woman of good mind and soul; she instructed 
her son in moral virtues and was largely re¬ 
sponsible, we may believe, for his uprightness, 
so that he “walked m all the way of David his 
father, and turned not aside to the right hand 
or to the left.” The idealism is extravagant. 

At twelve years, the king had “brought the 
people to a sober way of living. ’ ’ He started re- 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 207 


pairs upon the Temple, engaging workmen of 
various trades, carpenters and masons, and buy¬ 
ing timber and hewn stone for the work. So 
devoted were these craftsmen that, we are told, 
“ there was no reckoning made with them of the 
money that was delivered into their hand; for 
they dealt faithfully.” It sounds utopian! 
Josiah was eighteen when some startling infor¬ 
mation came to him from Hilkiah the priest: he 
was told that the scribe Shaphan had “found 
the book of the law in the house of Jehovah/’ 
When Josiah heard the words read from this 
long-lost book, he was fearful lest “the wrath 
of Jehovah might be kindled’’ against the chil¬ 
dren of Judah because they had failed to obey 
file words ordained for their right living and 
worship. 

In his anxiety, he begged the high priest and 
the scribe and Asaiah, the king’s servant, to 
“inquire of Jehovah” for him and the people 
regarding their future. They went to Huldah 
the prophetess—more truly, the interpreter 
and legislator—and they communed with her.” 
Without hesitation she told these men that 
Jehovah had revealed to her his judgment upon 
the erring children of Judah. Because of their 
iniquity and idolatry for so many years they 


208 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


must suffer “the wrath of Jehovah,’’ “and it 
shall not be quenched.” Rigid and cold seems 
the message but there was an alleviation for 
the king; it must have been a satisfaction to 
Huldah to send these words of appreciation of 
the humility and piety of Josiah: “because thy 
heart was tender, and thou didst humble thy¬ 
self before Jehovah, when thou heardest what I 
spake against this place, and against the inhabi¬ 
tants thereof, that they should become a deso¬ 
lation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and 
wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith 
Jehovah. Therefore, behold, I will gather thee 
to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy 
grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all 
the evil which I will bring upon this place. ” We 
have no information how long Huldah survived 
after this service for her king. It is to be hoped 
that she, also, was gathered to her grave in 
peace before the evil days returned. Probably 
she was a participant in the Passover that was 
revived and celebrated, greater than any other 
event of religious importance “from the days of 
the judges.” She would rejoice in Josiah’s 
abolishment of the idols and wizards and “all 
the abominations that were seen in the land of 
Judah and in Jerusalem.” Did she foresee the 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 209 


approaching doom of the city and of the Temple 
in the next generation, the taxation of the land 
for Pharaoh of Egypt and the captivity and 
desolation that came with Nebuchadnezzar, king 
of Babylon, in the reigns of Jehoiakim, the son 
of Josiah, and of Zedekiah, 4 ‘his father’s 
brother”! Surely it is grim belief in the 
44 jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the 
fathers upon the children,” that is reflected in 
these days of Huldah! 

Esther, the Savior-Queen of the Jews 

The life-story of Esther is familiar and com¬ 
pelling. After the capture of Babylon by Cyrus 
in 538 b.c. and his permission to the Jews to 
return to Palestine, many of them, often called 
a 44 remnant,” took advantage of the oppor¬ 
tunity, but others preferred to stay in Shushan 
where was abundance of food and prosperity. 
Among the latter was Mordecai, a Jew of the 
tribe of Benjamin, and his niece Esther, daugh¬ 
ter of Abihail. Probably Esther was an orphan, 
for she lived with her uncle and was carefully 
educated by him. She was able to write, with 
Mordecai, the proclamation of Purim, according 
to biblical narrative. Her education included 
social graces and religious training in the laws 


210 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


and ceremonies of the Jews. She was very 
beautiful. It is possible that her shrewd uncle 
cherished hopes that she might have a “call” to 
the court of Ahasuerus, where she could gain 
social recognition for her race. He could not 
foresee that she would become the savior of 
their people after Haman, with the ring of the 
king as symbol of his power, had had an edict 
issued against this race whom he despised on the 
ground that their “laws were diverse from those 
of every other people” and that they failed to 
keep the laws of the Persians. When Vashti 
had been deposed and the countryside was 
searched for a beautiful maiden to arouse Aha¬ 
suerus from his repentance for his act toward 
his queen, the choice fell upon Esther. Mor- 
lecai counseled her not to tell the king, or any 
ne, of her nationality. She became the favorite 
of the harem, with the king; “And Mordecai 
walked every day before the court of the wom¬ 
en’s house, to know how Esther did, and what 
would become of her. ’ 9 She was made i 1 the law¬ 
ful wife”; she was anointed by four hundred 
virgins to be purified, and the king kept a wed¬ 
ding feast for her for a month, says Josephus. 
Gifts were sent broadcast, and all the people 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 211 


were delighted, for “ Esther obtained favor of 
all the people that looked upon her.” 

Then, with the fickleness of Eastern mon- 
archs, the king found other favorites, and 
Esther was not called to court for a long time. 
Meantime, the crisis arose for her uncle and her 
race; word was brought to Esther by one of the 
king’s chamberlains. The only hope was 
through the intercession of Esther with the 
king. It was a rash act to enter the king’s pres¬ 
ence unsummoned. It might mean death. 
Mordecai urged her, saying, “who knoweth 
thou art not come to the kingdom for such a 
time as this?” Putting fear behind her, asking 
for prayer on the part of her people, she 
adorned herself and started on her perilous ven¬ 
ture with the words, ‘ ‘ and if I perish, I perish. ’ ’ 
Josephus has adorned this tale with imaginative 
touches and adaptations from the Apocryphal 
Esther: “And as soon as she come over against 
the king, as he was sitting on his throne, in his 
royal apparel, which was a garment interwoven 
with gold and precious stones which made him 
seem more terrible to her especially when he 
looked at her somewhat severely, and with a 
countenance on fire with anger, her joints failed 


212 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


her immediately, out of the dread she was in, 
and she fell down sideways in a swoon; but the 
king changed his mind, which happened, as I 
suppose, by the will of God, and was concerned 
for his wife lest her fear should bring some very 
ill turn upon her, and he leaped from his throne, 
and took her in his arms and recovered her, by 
embracing her and speaking comfortably to her 
and exhorting her to be of good cheer and not 
to suspect anything sad on account of her com¬ 
ing to him without being called, because that law 
was made for subjects but that she who was a 
Queen, as he was a King, might be intirely 
secure. Then he put the scepter into her 
hand, and laid his rod upon her neck, and so 
freed her from fear.” Esther’s answer, as con¬ 
ceived by the historian, follows: “My Lord, it is 
not easy for me to say on the sudden what hath 
happened, for as soon as I saw thee to be great 
and comely and terrible, my spirit departed 
from me, and I had no soul left in me.” 

The biblical narrative of the queen’s request, 
her banquets, her adroit accusation of Haman 
and salvation of her people, the elevation of 
Mordecai to be chief in command under the 
king, and the slaying of hundreds of men who 
had been enemies of the Jews reaches its crisis 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 213 


in the request of Esther that the ten sons of 
Haman should be hung. Then came the estab¬ 
lishment of the Feast of Purim, or lot, in mem¬ 
ory of what Esther had done to rescue the Jews 
from destruction. It is a colorful, pictorial 
story, true to the times and customs. Well may 
the Jews, even to the present day, celebrate this 
feast in honor of their savior-queen. It com¬ 
bines, as literature, the dramatic and romantic; 
it is an unwaning inspiration to artists and 
poets. Among many beautiful paintings of 
Esther may be cited those by Ernest Normand, 
Felix Barrias and W. L. Taylor. 

Judith •, the Patriot of Bethulia 

In the rabbinical canons the Book of Esther, 
with her later history, is among the Apocryphal 
books with the Maccabees, Tobit, and Judith. 
Judith has been one of the most idealized 
women in Hebrew history or tradition. Nebu¬ 
chadnezzar had made successful war against the 
Medes. Some of the western cities and towns 
had not helped him, and Holofernes, his captain, 
was given one hundred and thirty-two thousand 
men to use in retaliation, by laying waste their 
lands and sanctuaries. The mountain towns of 
Samaria were threatened for they were strategic 


214 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


points. To protect themselves from attack by 
Holofernes, they were fortified. Among these 
places was Bethulia, whose exact location is still 
in doubt. It was built on a mountain-side and 
was a focal point of attack. Holofernes had 
crossed the Euphrates, had ravaged the valley 
of Esdraelon, and was cutting off the water- 
supply from Bethulia: “Therefore their young 
children were out of heart, and their women and 
young men fainted for thirst and fell down in 
the streets of the city, and by the passages of 
the gates, and there was no longer any strength 
in them.” Achior, who had ventured to tell 
Holofernes and his king of the secret source of 
help of these strange Israelites—that they could 
not be conquered as were other peoples because 
of their Jehovah—had been thrown over the 
wall of the camp, apparently dead, into Bethu¬ 
lia where he revived and told the Jews of the 
conditions at the camp of Holofernes. Messen¬ 
gers came with a demand for surrender but the 
three elders of Bethulia, Ozias, Chabris and 
Charmis, asked for five days of delay. To the 
agonized people, Ozias said, “And if those days 
pass and there come no help unto us, I will do 
according to your word . 1 9 

In Bethulia lived Judith, of the tribe of 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 215 

Simeon, daughter of Merari and widow of Ma- 
nasses. She had much beauty and wealth. Since 
her husband’s death, more than three years 
before, she had retired to her “tent on top of 
her house,” had put on sackcloth and fasted, 
except on Sabbath eves, Sabbaths and festival 
days. To her beauty and wealth she added gen¬ 
tleness and firmness of character; “and there 
was none that gave her an ill word: for she 
feared God greatly.” She had a reputation for 
wisdom, for Ozias said to her, as he recounted 
the critical condition of Bethulia, “This is not 
the first day wherein thy wisdom is manifested; 
but from the beginning of thy days all the people 
have known thy understanding because the dis¬ 
position of thy heart is good.” She reproved 
the elders for fixing a limit to the time for help 
from Jehovah; she promised them aid and 
started upon a mysterious errand, with her 
maid, equipped with 4 4 a bag of figs, wine, bread 
and parched corn.” Going to the camp of Holo- 
fernes, she sought an interview with him and 
told him fictitious stories about her city and her 
allegiance to his king. He was enthralled with 
her beauty but he spared her from attack. She 
and her maid remained close to his camp, re¬ 
fusing his food because she had brought her own 


216 


WOMEN OP THE BIBLE 


but, on the last night, venturing to remain with 
Holofernes and to encourage him to feast and 
drink. Thomas Bailey Aldrich, in "his dramatic 
poem, ‘ 4 Judith and Holofernes/’ has expressed 
her prayer: 1 

0 save me Lord, from this dark, cruel prince, 

And from mine own self save me; for this man, 

A worshipper of fire and senseless stone, 

Slayer of babes upon their mothers’ breast, 

He, even he, hath by some conjuror’s trick, 

Or by his heathen beauty in me stirred 
Such pity as stays anger’s lifted hand. 

O let not my hand falter in Thy name! . . . 

And thrice that day, by hazard left alone, 

Judith bowed down, upon the broidered mats 
Bowed down in shame and wretchedness and prayed: 
Since Thou hast sent the burden, send the strength! 

0 Thou who lovest Israel, give me strength 
And cunning such as woman never had, 

That my deceit may be his stripe and scar, 

My kiss his swift destruction. This for thee, 

My city, Bethulia, this for thee. 

The hour for action came; “the scimitar passed 
through his neck.” With the head of Holo¬ 
fernes in the maid’s bag, Judith returned to 
Bethulia, which was now safe from the disor¬ 
ganized, panic-stricken camp of the enemy. 

1 By permission of Houghton Mifflin Co. 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 217 


According to the final chapter of this tale of 
Judith, she gave the directions to Ozias and the 
leaders for the conquest of the camp of Asshur, 
after the death of Holofernes. With typical cus¬ 
tom, “the people plundered the camp for the 
space of thirty days”; and they gave to Judith 
the tent of Holofernes, his silver cups and his 
furniture. The women of her city “blessed 
her,” and made for her garlands of olive and 
had branches in their hands, and Judith “led 
all the women in the dance”; the men, in 
armor, sang, also. The Song of Judith, in 
which she led the people, is less familiar than 
those of Miriam and Deborah, but it is even 
more rhythmic and ecstatic in praise and thanks¬ 
giving, as a few of the lines will testify: 1 

Begin unto my God with timbrels, 

Sing unto my Lord with cymbals: 

Sing unto him psalm and praise: 

Exalt him, and call upon his name. . . . 

Asshur came out of the mountains from the north, 
He came with ten thousands of his host, 

The multitudes whereof stopped the torrents, 

And their horsemen covered the hills. 

He bragged that he would burn up my borders, 

And kill my young men with the sword, 

1 Arrangement from “The Bible Story,’* Vol. Ill, by the 
Eev. Newton M. Hall and the Rev. Irving Francis Wood, 
Springfield, 1917. Permission of King-Richardson Co. 


218 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


And throw my sucking children to the ground, 

And give mine infants for a prey, 

And make my virgins a spoil. 

The Almighty Lord brought them to nought by the 
hand of a woman. 

For their mighty one did not fall by young men, 
Neither did sons of the Titans smite him, 

Nor did great giants set upon him: 

But Judith the daughter of Merari made him weak 
with the beauty of her countenance. 

For she put off the apparel of her widowhood 
For the exaltation of those that were distressed in 
Israel, 

She anointed her face with ointment, 

And bound up her hair, 

And took a linen garment to deceive him. . . . 

I will sing unto my God a new song: 

0 Lord, thou art great and glorious, 

Marvelous in strength, invincible. 

Let all thy creation serve thee: 

For thou didst speak and they were made, 

Thou didst send forth thy spirit, and it builded them, 
And there is none that shall resist thy voice. 

Artists have found in this story a theme for 
dramatic painting, like the study by Philip Van¬ 
dyke at the Hague, another by Tintoretto at 
Madrid, and two Botticelli pictures. Jerome 
and some other historians have questioned the 
accuracy of the time and facts in the early part 
of this Apocryphal narrative; they have af- 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 219 

firmed that there is “self-evident romance” in 
later chapters. In spite of such criticism, the 
character of Judith, with some historical back¬ 
ground, is a strong, alluring revelation of a 
woman’s patriotism. 

Anna, the Prophetess 

In the days of Jesus and the apostles, there 
were many women who may be classified as 
“Friends and Co-Workers” but few whose ser¬ 
vices in civic or religious ways have been re¬ 
corded in the New Testament. Anna, the aged 
prophetess, is a good foil to inhuman Herodias 
and the other rash, conscienceless women of the 
period, like Salome, Bernice, and her sisters. 
Few are the biblical words about Anna: “And 
there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter 
of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of 
great age, having lived with a husband seven 
years from her virginity, and she had been a 
widow even unto fourscore and four years), who 
departed not from the temple, worshipping with 
fastings and supplications night and day.” 
The tribe of Asher had been celebrated in 
tradition “for the beauty of its women and 
their fitness to be wedded to the high priest or 
king,” says Dr. Edersheim. It is probable that 


220 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Anna did not live at the Temple but that she 
went there daily, taking part in the services. 
Her presence there, on the day when Jesus was 
brought up to be named, and her immediate un¬ 
derstanding of the blessing and prophecy 
uttered by Simeon, “Behold, this child is set 
for the falling and the rising of many in Israel/’ 
had far-reaching influence. She recognized the 
quotations of Simeon as the fulfilment of ear¬ 
lier prophecies by Isaiah and Micah. There¬ 
fore, “she gave thanks unto God, and spake of 
him to all them that were looking for the re¬ 
demption of Jerusalem. ” Possibly Anna, like 
so many others of that day, saw in Jesus the 
promised king as well as messiah. Surely she 
had intuitions of his peculiar mission to the 
Jews and to mankind. She was a fine example 
of “old age that is honorable” and useful. 

Priscillaan Apostolic Missionary 

Priscilla and Aquila are always mentioned 
among the most devoted friends of Paul. Pris¬ 
cilla’s name generally precedes her husband’s. 
It has been suggested that it may be because she 
came from a Roman family of rank. Priscilla 
is the diminutive form of Prisca; both names are 


PATRIOTIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICE 221 


found. Both husband and wife were tent- 
makers. When the Jews were expelled from 
Borne, probably under Claudius, Paul went to 
Corinth, perhaps with these friends; certain it 
is that he remained in their household. For 
eighteen months the trio plied their trade and 
preached their Gospel. Then they went with 
Paul to Ephesus, where their home was a meet¬ 
ing-place for Christians. 

According to tradition, the church on the 
Aventine, in Rome, was named St. Prisca. There 
was a legendary book, “Acts of St. Prisca/’ in 
which it was related that the body of Priscilla 
was burned in the Ostian Way and then taken to 
the church in the Aventine. Another tradition 
relates that Priscilla was the mother of C. Ma¬ 
rius Pudens Cornelianus, whose home was on 
the site of the church. In 1776 a bronze statue 
was found in the garden here that was said to be 
the memorial to Priscilla. In life, she was a 
humble, industrious woman, a thoughtful home¬ 
maker, and a true adherent of Christianity—a 
pioneer missionary and teacher. 

Salutations were sent by Priscilla and Aquila, 
in some of Paul’s epistles, to the churches at 
Corinth or other missionary stations: “Aquila 


222 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


and Prisca salute you very much in the Lord, 
with the church that is in their house.’’ More 
significant is the reference in Romans: “Salute 
Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in Christ 
Jesus, who for my life laid down their own 
necks; unto whom not only I give thanks, but 
also all the churches of the Gentiles: and 
salute the church that is in their house.” 
Doubtless, it was during the riot at Ephesus that 
these two friends risked their lives for that of 
Paul. Now they were again in Rome, perform¬ 
ing effective service among the Gentiles. Pris¬ 
cilla, as well as Aquila, had good education and 
was instructed in the teachings of both the 
rabbis and Jesus, as interpreted by Paul. It 
was their privilege to instruct the learned Apol- 
los, when they heard him preach at Ephesus, 
“mighty in the scriptures,” speaking of the 
baptism of John. However, “they took him 
unto them and expounded unto him the way of 
God more accurately.” Apollos was an Alex¬ 
andrian Jew, who had been a disciple of John; 
he was eloquent and was with Paul for a time at 
Ephesus. Luther has suggested that Apollos 
was the author of The Epistle to the Hebrews. 
Priscilla was a woman to be honored for her 
persistence and her loyal service in home and in 


WOMEN IN SERVICE 


223 


the struggling churches. One may visualize her 
personality as that of a finely balanced woman, 
brave, helpful, and hopeful, rejoicing with Paul 
in the opportunity to 6 ‘ preach glad tidings of 
good things/ ’ 


CHAPTER VI 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 

T HERE are many women in the Bible, 
younger and older, who may be classified 
as friends, or as helpers in many fields. We 
find them in the days of prophets and kings, in 
the times of Christ and his apostles. Women 
were recognized as advisers, even as leaders, 
among the early Jews, by their gifts of song or 
of prophecy, or by their patriotic courage; this 
has been attested by the services, already noted, 
of Miriam and Deborah, Huldah and Judith. 
More often the influence was exerted in their 
own homes, as with Abigail and Hannah, Mary 
and Martha, Lois and Eunice. Reviewing in¬ 
stances of happy home life in Jewish history, 
from Isaac and Rebekah, and Ruth and Boaz, to 
Aquila and Priscilla, we recall the words of Ly¬ 
man Abbott in his ‘ 4 Life and Literature of the 
Ancient Hebrews ’’; “We look back along these 
intervening centuries and bless God that man’s 

love for woman and woman’s love for man is as 

% 

old as humanity and as immortal as God.” 

224 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


225 


Honored Nurses in Biblical Records 

The nurse was raised to a position of honor 
among the Hebrews. Her place was only sec¬ 
ond to that of the devoted mother. She went 
with the eldest daughter to her new home—if 
slie traveled away from her parents’ care—and 
she was regarded with deep affection by the en¬ 
tire family Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, 
who went with Eliezer and her mistress to the 
home of Abraham and Issac, was given indi¬ 
vidual mention by later narrators, in a crowded 
recitaD ‘‘And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse died, 
and she was buried below Beth-el under the oak: 
and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth. 
This last word means “the oak of weeping.” 
Deborah had been a faithful nurse to Rebekah; 
she had remained with Jacob’s family, also, if 
we read the account right. Jacob, with his 
household, was journeying to the place where 
"he had “fled from the face of his brother Esau,” 
ana where God’s promise came to him, so that 
he set up a memorial. Deborah was probably 
with him and his wives and children, but she was 
very old; the computation makes her one hun¬ 
dred and forty years old in the reckoning of that 




226 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


time. She had been faithful to two generations 
and was ‘‘honored in her death and burial.” 

With noble intent, but through an unfortunate 
accident, the nurse of Jonathan’s son, little 
Mephisbosheth, comes into biblical record. 
“Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son that was 
lame of his feet. He was five years old when 
the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of 
Jezreel; and his nurse took him up, and fled: 
and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, 
that he fell, and became lame. And his name 
was Mephibosheth.” It was natural and 
thoughtful for her to seek a place of safety for 
her little charge, after his father and grand¬ 
father had been killed by the Philistines in the 
battle of Gilboa, and after their families had, 
perhaps, been taken captive. One cherishes the 
hope that the nurse lived to experience joy 
when, some years later, David remembered his 
friendship for Jonathan, inquired about his 
family, learned that the lad was living, and sent 
for him by Ziba, his servant. Amid so many 
incidents of bloodshed and revenge in this part 
of the Bible, it is refreshing to read this story 
of King David’s kind thought for Mephibosheth, 
the little lame prince. He sent for him to come 
from the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel in 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


227 


Lo-debar. The lad fell before the king in de¬ 
ference, as his nurse would have taught him to 
do; but David raised him up and assured him of 
his affection for his father, saying, “I will 
surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy 
father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land 
of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at 
my table continually. ’ ’ So David ordered Ziba 
to till the land and produce large harvests of 
grain and fruits for the benefit of this lame son 
of Jonathan. Of course, there have been critics 
who have asserted the truth—that Mephibo- 
sheth was the lawful heir to Saul’s throne; they 
have declared that David was wily and politic 
thus to show kindness so as to strengthen his 
own place as king, for fear of an uprising in 
behalf of Mephibosheth, just as he had asked 
Michal, Saul’s daughter and his wife, to come 
back to him for political reasons. One may in¬ 
terpret these acts according to one’s estimate 
of the character of David; perchance he had 
“mixed motives.” 

The service of Jehoshebeath, sister of Aha- 
ziah the king, and wife of Jehoiada the high 
priest, in saving the life of her baby-nephew 
Joash, has already been mentioned. One may be 
sure that she was the teacher-mother of the 


228 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


“good king,” who was brought forth from his 
hidden chambers when he was seven years of 
age to take the throne from his usurping grand¬ 
mother, Athaliah. To this brave, far-sighted 
aunt, who became his nurse and savior, he was 
indebted in part for the good influence which he 
exerted, doing “that which was right in the 
eyes of Jehovah all his days wherein Jehoiada 
the priest instructed him.” 

Rahab , Who “Hid” the Spies Sent Out by 

Joshua 

In Bible times, as in those of all later history, 
there were women who were scorned because 
they were of loose morals, of malign influence 
upon society. Harlots were accounted “an 
abomination unto the Lord”; their evil wiles 
were the theme of proverb-makers and prophets 
in the later days of social degeneracy: 

Her house is the way to Sheol, 

Going down to the chambers of death. . . . 

And she sitteth at the door of her house, 

On a seat in the high places of the city, 

To call to them that pass by, 

Who go right on their ways: 

Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither; 

And as for him that is void of understanding, she 
saith to him, 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


229 


Stolen waters are sweet, 

And bread eaten in secret is pleasant. 

But he knoweth not that the dead are there; 

That her guests are in the depths of Sheol. 

Rahab, who received the spies sent out by 
Joshua ‘ ‘ to view the land of Canaan ’ 9 and to re¬ 
port to him, is generally called “the harlot.’’ 
Later authorities have doubted whether she was 
really a harlot. She was an innkeeper; many 
harlots kept these wayside houses. One who ac¬ 
cepts the Bible story finds her so designated by 
later historians. Josephus regards her, not 
necessarily as a harlot, but as an innkeeper. 

The two spies, carefully chosen by Joshua for 
their discretion and courage, came to the wall 
of the city of Jericho and found there the house 
of Rahab. The account says they “came into 
the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, 
and lay there . 9 9 They had not entered the city 
unseen, however, for some one sent word to the 
king of Jericho, “Behold, there came in hither 
to-night men of the children of Israel to search 
out the land.” The king sent his messengers to 
find and capture them; to Rahab’s house they 
came with the command, “Bring forth the men 
that are come to thee, that are entered into thy 
house; for they are come to search out all the 


230 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


land.” Rahab was not easily daunted; she 
planned escape for the men by biding them with 
the “stalks of flax, which she had laid in order 
upon the roof.” Then, without fear, she lied to 
the searchers, telling them that as nightfall 
came on the men “went out; whither the men 
went I know not: pursue after them quickly; for 
ye will overtake them.’ 9 

With practical sagacity, she planned the es¬ 
cape of the spies to the mountains, while their 
pursuers were gone “to the Jordan unto the 
fords,” “she let them down by a cord through 
the window: for her house was upon the side of 
the wall. . , . And she said unto them, Get you 
to the mountain, lest the pursuers light upon 
you; and hide yourselves there three days, until 
the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye 
go your way.” Probably she supplied the spies 
with food for their period of exile. Rahab was 
more than a thrifty housekeeper and a valiant 
friend to Joshua’s spies. She was a daughter 
and a sister, with loving feelings toward her 
family, even though she may have been a social 
outcast. She made the spies swear to her “by 
Jehovah,” before she released them, that they 
would “deal kindly” with her father’s house, 
with her mother and her brethren and sisters 



AIIAB AND JEZEBEL 












































































FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


231 


and all their possessions. The spies pledged 
their word that Joshua and the Jews, should 
they enter Jericho, “will deal kindly and truly” 
with Rahab and her family. Josephus em¬ 
bellishes the tale with the words that “Joshua 
saved Rahab and her family and he gave her 
certain lands immediately and had her in great 
esteem ever afterwards.’’ Frederick Richard 
Pickersgill has embodied the story in his picture 
of “Rahab Receiveth and Concealeth the Spies 
from Shittim.” 

Another quality distinguished this friendly 
woman from her citizens in general. She real¬ 
ized that the Hebrews were “Jehovah’s chosen 
people,” that they were destined “to possess the 
land,” that the thoughtful men and women of 
Jericho were at heart fearful of the Hebrews. 
She was probably not a worshiper of Jehovah, 
but she had an intuitive faculty; she was re¬ 
sponsive to the high purposes and courage of 
the Israelites, and she served gladly in helping 
forward their progress. Unless Rahab had shel¬ 
tered the spies and shown herself friendly to 
them, the passage of the Israelites over the Jor- 
dan might have been long delayed. Her words 
of assurance encouraged the spies to report to 
Joshua: “Jehovah hath delivered into our 


232 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


hands all the land.” Again, Rahab was a wo¬ 
man who could keep a secret. The spies said to 
her, “But if thou utter this our business, then 
we shall be guiltless of thine oath which thou 
hast made us to swear.” It was not fear, as we 
read the story, that made her guard their secret; 
she had the reticence of a trustworthy friend 
and helper. She said no word but followed her 
directions to the letter. When the men of Israel 
came into Jericho, she “gathered into her 
house” all the family. Then she “bound in the 
window the same scarlet thread, ’ ’ the same cord, 
by which she had effected the escape of the 
spies; and she and her household were saved. 

The Witch of En-dor 

Witchcraft was condemned among the He¬ 
brews ; it was listed with rebellion and idolatry, 
even by Samuel: “For rebellion is as the sin 
of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry 
and teraphim.” The Levitical law had said, 
“Turn ye not unto them that have familiar spir¬ 
its, nor unto the wizards; seek them not out, to 
be defiled by them; I am Jehovah your God.” 
Saul, knowing these commands and the senti¬ 
ments of Samuel, after the death of the prophet, 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


233 


4 4 had put away those that had familiar spirits, 
and the wizards, out of the land. ’ ’ Then came a 
menace to the king and his people, for the Phil¬ 
istines had encamped in Shunem, while the chil¬ 
dren of Israel were encamped at Gilboa. Fear 
came upon Saul, as he saw the military strength 
of the enemy. He 44 inquired of Jehovah” for 
counsel or help, but 4 4 Jehovah answered him 
not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by 
prophets.* * 

In despair, Saul ordered his servants to find 
for him 44 a woman that hath a familiar spirit.” 
The demand was for a clairvoyant, a necroman¬ 
cer, a prophetess with vision, not a witch in the 
usual meaning of the word. Such a woman was 
found dwelling at En-dor, near the river Kishon. 
Saul put on a disguise and came to her, with 
two men, and besought her aid; they came 
44 by night” that the king might not be recog¬ 
nized. At once Saul demanded of the woman, 
4 4 bring me up whomsoever I shall name unto 
thee.” Whether she knew who Saul was when 
the narrative began, we cannot tell. She re¬ 
minded him that Saul had driven 4 4 out of the 
land” all those with familiar spirits and wizards 
and she feared for her life, should she do as he 
requested. He assured her, however, 4 4 by Jeho- 


234 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


vali,” that she should not suffer any punish¬ 
ment, if she would summon a “spirit” for him. 
‘ ‘ Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up 
unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.” 

The tale becomes dramatic at this point. The 
woman was frightened and “ cried with a loud 
voice’ ’ when she saw the prophet and recognized 
him. The dialogue that follows between Saul 
and Samuel is familiar, as is the judgment upon 
Saul for his disobedience of Jehovah. His doom 
is upon him; he and his sons shall fall in battle 
the next day at Gilboa, and his kingdom shall 
pass on to David. Thus spake the prophet, 
called forth by the clairvoyant. It is a grim 
tale, with a stern lesson for the Israelites, as the 
later scribes intended it should have. 

There is, however, a human touch that em¬ 
phasizes the womanliness of this famed “witch 
of En-dor.” She was a sympathetic friend to 
the king, as the final part of the narrative re¬ 
lates. Saul was anguished; he fell on his face 
upon the earth and refused all food, although he 
had not eaten for the day and night previous. 
Then the woman came to him with kindly words; 
she reminded him that she had done as he re¬ 
quested, even at the risk of her life, and, as his 
“handmaid,” she urged him to eat bread that he 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


235 


might gain strength for the morrow. When he 
still refused, this friend of the distraught king 
carried her seh-sacrifice to the limit, to cater to 
his possible appetite: “And the woman had a 
fatted calf in the house; and she hasted, and 
killed it; and she took flour, and kneaded it, and 
did bake unleavened bread thereof: and she 
brought it before Saul, and before his servants; 
and they did eat.” Josephus preaches a sermon 
on generosity and kindness in connection with 
this story of the despised woman and her 
“fatted calf.” Artists have generally treated 
her as a veritable witch, weird and appalling; 
such is the picture by Salvator Rosa in the 
Louvre, where the witch stirs the fire in the tri¬ 
pod like the witches in “Macbeth.” 

The Shunammite Woman, Friend of Elisha 

During the reigns of Jehoram, Jehu, and Je- 
hoahaz, kings of Israel, Elisha was the prophet- 
counselor. He had succeeded Elijah, as Joshua 
succeeded Moses. The Moabites, under Mesha, 
had been defeated, after the league between 
Israel and Judah. As Elisha, giving counsel to 
the kings, passed Shunem, on his way from 
Mount Carmel where he lodged, he was offered 
hospitality by a certain “great woman.” Her 


236 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


name is not given, but she is known as “the 
Shunammite woman.’ ’ She was great in wealth 
and social position; she abounded in hospitality 
and friendship for the prophet. She recognized 
his noble mission; she knew his long journey and 
frequent fatigue; she felt honored to serve him. 
So she planned for his comfort, and she said to 
her husband, “Let us make, I pray thee, a little 
chamber on the wall; and let us set for him there 
a bed, and a table, and a seat, and a candlestick: 
and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he 
shall turn in thither.’ ’ Her husband apparently 
did not question the wisdom of this plan, and it 
was carried out. 

Elisha was duly grateful, and he sought for 
some service which he could do for his friend or 
her husband. Should he speak for them to the 
king? Would her husband esteem a place that 
might be given to him by “the captain of the 
host.” There is indication of the woman’s dig¬ 
nity and unassuming station in her reply: “I 
dwell among mine own people”; she was a 
home-maker, without social or political ambi¬ 
tions. There was, however, one ambition, one 
desire unfulfilled, in this home of peaceful pros¬ 
perity. Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, discov¬ 
ered this and reported it to the prophet; “Verily 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


237 


she hath no son, and her husband is old.’’ Again 
as in the stories of Sarah and Rachel and Han¬ 
nah, there came an apparent miracle, and a son 
was born. 

There is another dramatic scene in this life- 
story of a faithful woman friend. The child was 
grown and was out in the harvest-fields with his 
father: The hot sun caused a sudden illness, for 
he cried to his father, “My head, my head. ,, 
The boy was taken to his mother; sitting on her 
knees until noon, he died. Acting upon some 
impulse or faith, she carried him up to the 
prophet’s bed and placed him there. Then she 
“shut the door upon him and went out.” She 
did not sit down in supine grief, however, but 
summoned the servants to saddle an ass for her, 
6 * that I may run up to the man of God, and come 
again.” As so often happens in a time of do¬ 
mestic crisis, the woman was the alert, resource¬ 
ful person. Her husband queried; “Wherefore 
wilt thou go to him to-day? it is neither new 
moon nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be 
well.” Such was her faith; it prompted action, 
and she would do her part to restore life to her 
son. “Slacken me not the riding, except I bid 
thee,” is her command to the servant. 

Elisha seemed to have no intimation of the 


238 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


trouble which had come upon his friends. He 
greeted her with the words, spoken by Gehazi 
as proxy: “Is it well with thee? is it well with 
thy husband? is it well with the child?’’ She 
replied, “It is well.” Her affair was not 
with the servant but with “the man of God.” 
She “caught hold of his feet” in her anguish 
and even reproached him for giving her this 
son, if she must lose him. When Gehazi would 
thrust her away, Elisha restrained him: “her 
soul Is vexed within her; and Jehovah hath hid 
it from me.” Evidently the prophet could not 
hasten as fast as his servant could; Gehazi was 
accordingly commanded to take Elisha’s staff, 
to hurry without speaking to any one, and to 
place the staff upon the face of the child. The 
prophet followed the mother. When he came to 
the house and realized that the staff had not ac¬ 
complished its purpose, “he went up, and lay 
upon the child, and put his mouth upon his 
mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands 
upon his hands; and he stretched himself upon 
him; and the child waxed warm. ’ ’ After Elisha 
had “walked to and fro,” he returned to find 
that life was assured; the child “sneezed seven 
times, and . . . opened his eyes.” Modern sci¬ 
ence may offer the explanation of animal mag- 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


239 


netism, hypnotism, or other theory to account 
for this resurrection; others will accept it as a 
miracle like those of Elijah and Christ. How¬ 
ever regarded, it is a beautiful, wistful story of 
friendship and its reward. “Take up thy son,” 
said Elisha to the mother, to this Shunammite 
woman of resources, hospitality, courage, and 
faith! 

Handmaids in Hebrew Narratives: 

Naaman's Little Maid 

The handmaids of Hebrew domestic life were 
raised, not infrequently, to the rank of concu¬ 
bines or secondary wives. Such was Hagar; 
such was Bilhah, the maid of Rachel, and Zil- 
pah, the handmaid of Leah. Leah rejoiced in 
the sons that her maid bore to Jacob and called 
them Gad and Asher, names that signify “for¬ 
tune’ ’ and “happy.” In later times the term 
“handmaid” was used with honor. When 
Mary, mother of Jesus, received the Annuncia¬ 
tion, she said to the angel, “Behold, the hand¬ 
maid of the Lord; be it unto me according to 
thy word.” Always, however, there was dis¬ 
crimination between the child of the legal wife 
and that of the handmaid, from the days of 
Abraham to those of Paul. Said Paul, writing 


240 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


to the Galatians, in analogy: 1 ‘ For it is written 
that Abraham had two sons, one by the hand¬ 
maid, and one by the freewoman. Howbeit the 
son by the handmaid is born after the flesh; but 
the son by the freewoman is born through 
promise.” 

Of all the “maids” mentioned in biblical his¬ 
tory, none has surpassed “Naaman’s little 
maid” for poetry and friendly service. She 
was a captive who had been taken in raids which 
the Syrians had made upon Palestine about 
895 b. c. Her story, in textual sequence, fol¬ 
lows close upon that of Elisha and the Shunam- 
mite woman. We know very little definitely 
about this little maid. We do not know her 
name or her age. We can find her marked 
traits in a vivid silhouette of her character. 
She was sympathetic, keen, and fearless, loyal 
both to her own country and religion and to the 
household of her Syrian master. To see the 
proud, valorous captain reduced to a loathsome 
leper, stirred all her pity and her friendliness. 
She had a faith that he might be cured; she 
would venture to express that faith to her mis¬ 
tress. The confidence of the household in the 
maid’s fidelity and suggestion bore fruit. At 
first, it seemed to the proud Naaman an insult 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


241 


to be told, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven 
times,’’ by the Israelitish prophet whom the 
little maid had promised would be his restorer. 
Naaman, with his chariots and wealth, expected 
some miracle commensurate with his rank. 
The Jordan was a small, despised stream, com¬ 
pared with the greater rivers of Damascus, 
Abanah and Pharpar. At length, perhaps 
urged directly or indirectly by the maid herself, 
he was persuaded to follow the directions of 
Elisha. He returned in a new humility of 
spirit, to pay tribute and to offer a “present.” 
There is a sad anticlimax—but a very human 
one—to this tale of Naaman’s gratitude and its 
expression—the “graft” of Elisha’s faithful 
servant Gehazi, and his punishment of leprosy. 

While the little maid, attending upon the wife 
of the Syrian captain, waited for her lord’s re¬ 
turn and the “news,” in those days of slow 
travel and of no other form .of communication, 
one may imagine her feelings. The loyal, warm¬ 
hearted girl has been depicted in poetry and 
imaginative literature many times; none has 
surpassed John Drinkwater, in his “Preludes.” 
He has chosen to make her older in years than 
the usual interpretation. He describes her ro¬ 
mantic sentiments toward the great captain, 


242 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


cherishing a silent, tragic affection for him, in 
contrast with the coldness of his wife, already 
noted. Her loneliness and fear of offending her 
mistress are suggested with genuine sympathy, 
as are her few compensations: 1 

And she had but two joys. One, to remember 
A Galilean town, and the blue waters 
That washed the pebbles that she knew so well, 
Yellow in sunlight, or frozen in the moon, 

A little curve of beach, where she could walk 
At any hour, with an old silver man 
Her father’s father, her sole companion. 

Who told her tales of Moses and the prophets 
That lived in the old days. And of that time 
She had but now poor treasuries of the mind, 
Little seclusions when, the day’s work done, 

She made thought into prayer before she slept; 
These, and a faded gown wdiich she had brought 
Into captivity, patterned with sprigs of thyme, 

And blades of wheat, and little curling shells, 

And signs of heaven figured out in stars, 

Made by a weaver that her grandsire knew, 

A gift on some thanksgiving. She might not wear it, 
Being suited as became a slave, but often 
At night, she would spread it in her loneliness, 

And think how finely she too might be drest, 

As finely as any proud woman of them all, 

If the God of Israel had not visited her 
Surely for sin, though she could not remember. 

1 ‘ ‘ Preludes, ’ ’ 1923. By permission of Houghton Mifflin Co. 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


243 


Thus one joy was. And then the Lord Naaman, 

This wonder soiled, this pitiful great captain 
Forbidden all that he had so proudly been— 

To worship him, that was her other joy. 

The poet portrays her as she follows the cap¬ 
tain, in lonely imagination and prayer, and 
waits feverishly for his return; then she dons 
her “faded gown” and watches, from a distance, 
the triumphal celebration, which would never 
have been possible but for her friendly, loving 
service. 

In admiration for Judith, the patriot of Be- 
thulia, one would not forget the faithful service 
of her maid. Not alone was she the companion 
and guardian of her mistress but she was the 
bearer, back to Bethulia, of the severed head of 
the great captain, Holofernes, hidden in her bag 
of food but never absent from her frightened 
yet self-controlled mind. In the recital of 
Peter’s miraculous release from prison, special 
mention is made of Rhoda, the maid at the home 
of Mary, mother of Mark, where Peter hastened 
after his angel guide had left him. Says the 
account : “And when he knocked at the door of 
the gate, a maid came to answer, named Rhoda. 
And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened 
not the gate for joy but ran in and told that 


244 


WOMEN OP THE BIBLE 


Peter stood before the gate.” It is a human, 
appealing touch! 

i 

Women Who Were Comrades and Friends 

of Jesus 

No one can read the life of Jesus without be¬ 
ing impressed by the number of women who 
shared his comradeship and ministered to him 
in varied forms of friendly service. Jesus gave 
to womanhood a new valuation. He treated 
women with chivalrous courtesy; he gave them 
intellectual appreciation. They ate with him; 
they journeyed with him, in spite of the dismay 
of the Pharisees, sometimes in defiance of the 
customs adhered to by his disciples. They lis¬ 
tened to his preaching and they witnessed his 
miracles upon the same social level as the men 
companions. He used womanhood for many of 
his illustrations and parables—the ten virgins 
at the wedding, the woman who had lost her 
marriage bracelet-coin, the women grinding com 
at the mill, and in other instances. He restored 
some of the older Hebrew sentiments of re¬ 
spect for women that had lapsed under corrup¬ 
tion and pharisaism. He, however, was not 
bound by the custom prevailing among Eastern 
people, even to our present day of separating 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


245 


women from men, in public places. Says H. J. 
\ an Lennep in “ Bible Lands”: “ Promiscuous 
assemblies of men and women are unknown; 
and even when a crowd collects to see some 
sight or gaze at a show, the sexes are always 
grouped in two distinct and separate portions. 
A man never walks in the street by the side of 
his wife or daughter, but, when he happens to 
be out in their company, is sure to keep several 
paces in advance of them.” 

In turn, women gave to Jesus their ardent loy¬ 
alty, their practical help and comradeship. One 
of the most manly of men—in truth, the finest 
type of manliness ever known—Jesus was, also, 
one of the most sympathetic and tender in his 
intuitions about women; he had for them the 
“understanding heart” for which Solomon 
prayed. Jesus received women as his disciples 
and friends. It is to be noted, as Dr. Abbott has 
emphasized, that, “they did not teach.” This 
may be explained by the attitude of Jesus on 
the question or, more likely, by the impossibility 
of such a situation, or by the refusal of the Jews 
to receive such teaching during the life of Je¬ 
sus. All great reformers have found women 
among their most responsive disciples. The 
same is true, unfortunately, of impostors and 


246 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


fanatics. The quick sympathies and emotions 
of women respond to appeals; they are valuable 
supporters, when their intuitions and judgments 
are sound, of all 4 * causes” of moral and spir¬ 
itual advancement. 

Luke mentions several women by name as 
among those who followed Jesus and “minis¬ 
tered unto him of their substance.” They are 
said to have gone about with him, as he went 
“through villages and cities, preaching and 
bringing the good tidings of the kingdom of 
God.” With them were the twelve disciples. 
“Certain women” had been healed of evil spir¬ 
its and infirmities—‘ ‘ Mary that was called Mag¬ 
dalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 
and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, 
and Susanna, and many others. ’ ’ Mary of Mag- 
dala will be spoken of later in this chapter. It 
has been surmised that Chuza was the nobleman 
whose son was sick unto death at Capernaum 
and was healed by Jesus; “he and his household 
believed.” Joanna was rich and influential at 
court, yet she followed this despised preacher to 
the very end and was at his tomb to anoint his 
body for burial. Susanna is unknown except by 
name. If the primal motive for this friendship 
for Jesus was gratitude on the part of these 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


247 


women, their persistent fidelity was due to his 
inspiration and to his sympathy with their de¬ 
sire to become more worthy of his comradeship. 
The condition of state and church was such, 
when Jesus came, that every one of high aspira¬ 
tions, every one of free spirit, eagerly accepted 
this man “who spake "with authority and not 
as the scribes.” Women always suffer most 
keenly in a time of political upheaval or moral 
deterioration; it was natural that the women of 
finer type should pledge their lives and means 
to help forward what they believed would be a 
purified Judaism, a nationality that could shake 
off the tyranny of Rome and the bigotry of Phar¬ 
isaism. 

Mary , Mother of Mark; Peter’s Wife’s 

Mother 

Salome, the mother of James and John, 
“Zebedee’s children,” has been considered in an 
earlier chapter. Her pride in her sons and her 
zeal for them have been cruelly misconstrued. 
She and her sons “worshipped’’ Jesus, says 
Matthew in telling the story. Jesus had care¬ 
fully explained the spiritual kingdom, under an¬ 
alogy of the householder and his vineyard and 
his only son whom they killed; he had foretold 


248 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


his captivity, death, and resurrection to the dis¬ 
ciples, but they could not understand. How 
could Salome, with her imagination fixed on 
earthly triumphs, comprehend what was slowly 
revealed to his disciples after the events had 
fulfilled his prophecies? This request of the 
mother, coupled with the self-assurance of the 
two sons, caused jealous anger on the part of 
the other disciples. Very human was the situ¬ 
ation : “And when the ten heard of it they were 
moved with indignation against the brethren.” 
It often happens in life that a mother’s ambi¬ 
tious projects for her children bring disfavor 
rather than appreciation for them. Jesus 
kindly explains this new truth of Christianity, 
that of humility, so that Salome, his true friend 
and helper—perhaps his aunt—may understand 
this as well as the disciples: “Ye know that the 
rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their 
great ones exercise authority over them. Not 
so shall it be among you:T)ut whosoever would 
become great among you shall be your minister; 
and whosoever would be first among you shall 
be your servant: even as the Son of man came 
not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and 
to give his life a ransom for many.” 

Mary, wife of Clopas and mother of John sur- 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


249 


named Mark, was another hostess and friend of 
Jesus and the disciples. She was sister of Bar¬ 
nabas. Her home in Jerusalem was a meeting- 
place for the Master and his followers during 
his life; it was used by the apostles after his 
death and resurrection. There is a tradition 
that this house was of considerable size and was 
situated on Mount Zion; another tradition says 
it was used later as a church. Mary was at the 
cross, with the mother of Jesus and Mary Mag¬ 
dalene. By John, who should have reported ac¬ 
curate^ she was here mentioned as 1 ‘ Mary the 
wife of Clopas,” preceded by the phrase, “and 
his [Jesus’] mother’s sister.” Lyman Abbott 
and other scholars regard these as two women, 
and consider Salome as the sister of Mary, the 
mother of Jesus When Peter was miraculously 
released from prison by the angel, he went at 
once (when the angel left him at the first street 
beyond the gate) “to the house of Mary the 
mother of John whose surname was Mark; 
where many were gathered together and were 
praying. ’ * 

At Capernaum lived another woman-friend of 
Jesus, the mother-in-law of Peter. We are not 
told more of the wife of Peter or her mother, 
but one incident stands out vividly, as told by 
Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Jesus had cured the 


250 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


centurion’s servant of palsy at Capernaum, just 
as he entered the city. Then he turned aside to 
the home of Peter, probably for rest; there he 
found the senior home-maker ‘* sick of a fever.” 
It might have been of the malarial type so com¬ 
mon in the vicinity of Capernaum, where 
marshes abound. Luke, the physician, calls 
this “a great fever,” indicating that she was 
very ill. According to Mark and Luke, Jesus 
was asked to cure her; Mark adds that “he 
took her by the hand and lifted her up; and 
immediately the fever left her.” In the sen¬ 
tence in Matthew which recounts this woman’s 
immediate recovery the last pronoun is sig¬ 
nificant in the newer version: “and she arose, 
and ministered upon him.” The older transla¬ 
tion was “to them.” It is pleasant to visualize 
this woman raised suddenly to strength after 
an enervating fever and “ministering” to the 
physical comfort of Jesus at the end of a busy 
day, which must have drained his own vitality 
to a certain degree. 

The Woman Who “Touched Christ's Gar¬ 
ment" and Was Healed 

Tradition has given Bernice as the name of 
the woman who touched Christ’s garment and 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


251 


was healed of a long-standing illness. Another 
tradition calls her Veronica, with a home at 
Caesarea Philippi, where there was an ancient 
statue of her, showing her as she touched the 
fringe of Christ’s robe. The legend has it that 
the Emperor Julian (or possibly Maximus) had 
the statue destroyed; for this he substituted one 
of himself, which was destroyed by lightning. 
Another story is that she was a princess of 
Edessa, who had spent her fortune in seeking a 
cure for her illness. More traditions are found 
in the versions of her story in the Apocryphal 
books of Acts of Pilate and Gospel of Nico- 
demus. 

Turning from fancies to biblical facts, we 
note, first, that she was a woman of social posi¬ 
tion who shrank from publicity and yet had faith 
in the healing power of Jesus. So, as he was on 
his way to bring life to the daughter of Jairus, 
the ruler of the synagogue, she pressed against 
him in the midst of the crowd. For twelve years 
she had been ill, ‘‘ and had suffered many things 
of many physicians, and had spent all that she 
had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew 
worse.” With a courage that can scarcely be 
understood to-day, she was determined to touch 
the garment of Jesus, believing that the touch 


252 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


would bring about her healing. The Pharisees 
shrank from contact with a woman in the street, 
so that she was bravely facing a possible ex- 
communication, or humiliation for her daring. 
Her faith was rewarded, for her disease was 
healed. “Many things” that she had “suf¬ 
fered” of many physicians would include exor¬ 
cisms and charms, rather than scientific treat¬ 
ment. 

“Who touched my garments?” was the ques¬ 
tion of Christ. It seemed a foolish question to 
the disciples. It was doubtless asked by Jesus 
for two reasons: to find out whether the person 
who had touched him was in need of further aid; 
and, perhaps, to test the person’s faith. It is 
evident that Jesus felt “that the power pro¬ 
ceeding from him had gone forth,” as the new 
version reads—that his healing power was con¬ 
sciously used. The Jews regarded the “fringe 
of the garment” with “a superstitious rever¬ 
ence”; Jesus was emphasizing that his person¬ 
ality, his divine power, not his garment, had 
accomplished the cure. The woman responded 
well to the questions; she did not run away, with 
her new gift of health, nor did she make any pre¬ 
tense; she came, “fearing and trembling . . . 
and fell down before him, and told him all the 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


253 


truth.” So she went away with his blessing: 
“Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go 
in peace, and be whole of thy plague. ’ ’ One may 
believe that she became a good friend to Jesus, 
for she had persistence, gratitude, integrity, and 
faith, as well as renewed health for his service. 

The Syrophenician Woman 

There is another woman, less familiar than 
many of those in biblical stories, whose faith in 
Jesus was extraordinary and brought its re¬ 
ward. It was after the feeding of five thou¬ 
sand, and Jesus had been enduring much con¬ 
troversy on the part of the Pharisees over 
his new freedom from worn-out ceremonials. So 
he went away “into the borders of Tyre and 
Sidon. And he entered into a house, and would 
have no man know it.” He was in need of rest 
for body and spirit, and so he came away from 
Galilee. There was “a woman, whose little 
daughter had an unclean spirit,” or “a devil,’ ’ 
and the mother’s heart was agonized. She had, 
doubtless, “suffered many things” from the im¬ 
postors and exorcists of her time and country. 
She was a Syrophenician, of a “mixed race,” 
much despised by the Jews. She heard, how¬ 
ever, that Jesus had come into her vicinity, and 


254 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


she was fearless with a deep, maternal courage. 
The disciples would send her away when she 
cried out to Jesus, “Have mercy on me, 0 Lord, 
thou son of David; my daughter is grievously 
vexed with a demon.’ ’ She was a Canaanite in 
religion, but she was a mother; possibly, she was 
a proselyte. Any appeal that she could make 
for her afflicted daughter could not be omitted. 
At first Jesus did not answer her. Possibly he 
was very weary and needed rest from further 
exertions of spiritual power. Such a cure would 
bring crowds to him; he was, indeed, obliged to 
depart afterward. Possibly, as is generally ex¬ 
plained, he shared somewhat the feeling of the 
Jews toward the Syrophenicians. This inter¬ 
pretation is contained in the words of Mark, im¬ 
plying that Jesus came first to the Jews: “And 
he said unto her, Let the children first be filled; 
for it is not meet to take the children’s bread 
and cast it to the dogs.” Or the words in Mat¬ 
thew : “I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of 
the house of Israel.” The usual explanation of 
this sentence does not seem in harmony with the 
sympathy of Jesus and his broader teaching 
toward the Gentiles. 

The mother would not be rebuffed by his si¬ 
lence; she persisted. “And his disciples came 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 255 

and besought him, saying, Send her away; for 
she crieth after us.” Then her persistence and 
faith won the Master’s sympathy. That was a 
clever answer which she made to his comment 
about the “children’s bread cast to the dogs”; 
for she answered in words that have been used 
through the centuries; “Yea, Lord: even the 
dogs under the table eat of the children’s 
crumbs.” This woman’s persistence, her keen 
mind and anguished heart won her case; Jesus 
yielded to her appeal with friendly words: 
“0 woman, great is thy faith: be it done unto 
thee even as thou wilt.” She returned to her 
home to find her daughter well and to reverence 
and love the Healer and Teacher. It has been 
suggested by Lyman Abbott and other commen¬ 
tators that Jesus never intended his words as a 
rebuke to her but as a lesson to his disciples, 
through her intuitive answer and her faith. 

The Daughter of Jairus 

Matthew, the publican, the tax-gatherer for 
the Roman Government, was unpopular because 
of his work, but he gave a feast for Jesus and his 
disciples that aroused the scorn of the Phari¬ 
sees. Jesus had spoken to them, and to the 
disciples of John, about true fasting and re- 


256 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


ligion. Even as he was talking with them a cer¬ 
tain ruler of the synagogue, Jairus by name, 
rushed in, fell in worship at his feet, and begged 
him to come and lay his hands in healing upon 
the little daughter of this elder’s household, who 
was “at the point of death.” It was an urgent 
appeal made by a man of authority among the 
Jews. She was his only daughter, says Luke, 
about twelve years old. Jesus loved children; 
he sympathized deeply with agonized parents. 
He started upon his way to help the father to 
save his child. The mob pressed upon him and 
he was delayed by the incident already cited of 
“the woman with an issue of blood,” who 
touched the fringe of his garment in her faith 
and was cured after years of suffering at the 
hands of superstitious exorcists and fakers. 

Mark says that as Jesus was speaking to the 
woman a messenger came from the ruler’s house 
with the word that the maiden had died. With 
tender comfort, Jesus said to the stricken father, 
“Be not afraid; only believe.” With prompt 
action, he put out of the room the wailing 
friends and the professional “mourners”; he 
kept with him Peter and James and John, his 
disciples, and the father and mother of the girl. 
It was been suggested that she was in a state of 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


257 


coma, but this is an evasion of the facts as nar¬ 
rated. Vivid is the scene: “And taking the 
damsel by the hand, he saith unto her, Talitha 
cumi”; this was the Aramaic dialect instead of 
the Greek that Jesus used before Pilate and at 
other times; it means, “Damsel, arisen * It is 
an inspiring phrase, found to-day on an occa¬ 
sional hospital or home for the resurrection of 
“dead souls.’’ With his practical wisdom, 
Jesus ordered food for the damsel, as she 
“rose up, and walked.” 

The Woman of Samaria 

The woman of Samaria, coming on a hot day 
to the well which tradition said was dug by Ja¬ 
cob, to fill her pitcher from this perennial spring, 
and lingering there to talk with Jesus, is a pic¬ 
turesque figure in biblical story and in art. 
Jesus, again wearied by constant service for 
others in natural and supernatural ways, was 
sitting at the well to rest, while his disciples had 
gone into the town of Shechem, or Sychar, to 
buy food. He had said farewell to John Bap¬ 
tist; he was traveling from Judea into Galilee. 
It was the most direct route through Samaria, 
although some of the more bigoted Jews avoided 
contact with their despised neighbors by going 


258 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


through Perea. The bitterness of feeling be¬ 
tween Jews and Samaritans dated from the divi¬ 
sion of the kingdom of David and Solomon, 
when Rehoboam selected Shechem as his capital 
city. Later the city of Samaria was built by 
Omri, the grandfather of Athaliah. The col¬ 
onists suffered from wild beasts, and it was 
thought this came as punishment because they 
worshiped heathen gods. So they sent for 
priests of Israel to teach them i ‘ true worship/’ 
A “mixed religion” was the result, and antag¬ 
onism developed which reached a crisis at the 
time of the building of the Temple, as is told in 
Ezra and Nehemiah. A rival temple was built 
at Mount Gerizim, where, by tradition, the sac¬ 
rifice of Isaac was stopped; and a Samaritan 
Pentateuch was written which claimed to be 
more ancient than that of the Jews. Lyman 
Abbott says in his “Jesus of Nazareth,” 
“ Samaria became the Texas of Palestine where 
all violators of Jewish law found an easy 
refuge from offended justice.” 

It has been suggested that the woman came at 
noon rather than at night, as was the custom, 
that she might avoid the women gossips who 
frequented the well at eventime as a social cen¬ 
ter. She had been married five times and was 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


259 


now mistress of a sixth man—an indication of 
the lax morality of her type. Probably she paid 
no attention to the stranger who sat upon the 
well, because it was evident that he was a Jew 
by his dress, and she knew well that “the Jews 
have no dealings with the Samaritans.” Least 
of all would she expect him to speak to her in a 
public place, whether she were Jew or Gentile. 
Jesus saw an opportunity for social service. He 
tactfully prefaced his reforms with a request. 
Doubtless, he was thirsty as well as weary. Her 
ungracious answer, “How is it that thou, being 
a Jew, askest drink of me, who am a Samaritan 
woman ?” may have expressed surprise more 
than inhospitality. How gently Jesus answered 
her, making use at once of the spiritual sym¬ 
bols, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who 
it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou 
wouldest have asked of him, and he would have 
given thee living water. ’ ’ It was a mental chal¬ 
lenge as well as a religious one; the woman re¬ 
sponded, still resentful in mood and taking his 
words literally: ‘ ‘ Sir, thou hast nothing to draw 
with, and the well is deep; whence then hast thou 
that living water? Art thou greater than our 
father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank 
thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle ? 9 9 


260 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


With more careful analogy Jesus explained to 
her this “living water.” It was a moment of 
illumination for the woman of checkered life 
and many passions. Could she secure such a 
boon, so that she need not come every day to the 
well, to carry home the heavy pitcher? The 
meaning of Jesus and his divine insight into 
her life came to her in a flash of intuition when 
he had adroitly urged her to summon her hus¬ 
band, then reminded her of her past marital ex¬ 
periences and her present immorality. Then 
she realized that he “was a prophet.’’ A part 
of the conversation seems to be omitted here, by 
reason of the swift change to the subject of 
place of worship at Jerusalem. To this awak¬ 
ened inquiring woman bereft of all her resent¬ 
ment, Jesus spake those words of wonderful 
beauty: “God is a Spirit [or “is Spirit”]: and 
they that worship him must worship in spirit 
and in truth.” I recall, with impressive memo¬ 
ries, a sermon by Maude Royden from this text, 
drawn from this incident. 

The sequel of the story is significant. Unde¬ 
terred by the objections of the disciples when 
they found him talking with her, Jesus affirmed 
that he had “meat to eat that ye know not of”; 
that he had been doing “the will of him that 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 261 

sent” him. The conversation with the woman 
had given Jesus spiritual exaltation and satis¬ 
faction. The woman went back to her city, to 
tell the Samaritans of her marvelous discovery 
and to prepare a cordial welcome there for 
Jesus, so that “they besought him to abide with 
them: and he abode there two days. ’ ’ The tes¬ 
timony of the woman had not been rejected but 
had been supplemented by their own conversa¬ 
tions with this “Messiah who is called Christ,” 
of whom the woman had already heard and 
whom she now worshiped. It is easy to imagine 
the joy of this woman, and probably her moral 
recovery, during the days that Jesus tarried in 
Sychar. She had made a friend of Jesus; she 
would give him the full response of her mind 
and heart. Was not the germ-idea of the 
parable of the “good Samaritan” possibly con¬ 
ceived during these two days in the midst of 
friendly hospitality? 

“The TVoman Who Was a Sinner” and Her 

Tribute 

The woman who followed Jesus in penitence 
and worship, who paid her tribute to him in the 
house of Simon a Pharisee, has too often been 
confused with Mary Magdalene and Mary, sis- 


262 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


ter of Lazarus. Hers was a separate per¬ 
sonality, as I interpret the text. The Latin 
Fathers and some later critics, Catholic and 
Protestant, affirm that this is another version 
of the event described by Matthew, Mark, and 
John; this specific narrative is found in Luke 
alone. On the other hand, the time and circum¬ 
stances are dissimilar. The Simon at whose 
house Jesus was given his later tribute of “ala¬ 
baster ointment” was a leper; this Simon was a 
Pharisee and in prominence as host. The time 
was not just before the last week of the life of 
Jesus, as in the later episode, but while he was 
in Galilee before his final disagreements with 
the Pharisees. Moreover, the objection to this 
act on the part of the woman was not because of 
“extravagance,” as told in the other narrative, 
but because “she was a sinner.” She was “a 
woman of the city,” or, in our language, “a 
woman of the streets.” Somewhere, at some 
time, she had come under the influence of 
Jesus and was eager to record her gratitude. 
Was she the woman of whom he had said, “ Let 
him that is without sin among you cast the first 
stone”? This woman had been “taken in 
adultery”; she was brought into public dis¬ 
grace by the scribes and Pharisees, “set in the 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


263 


midst” of them; she was doomed to death 
under the old Levitical law. Perhaps they 
were trying to entangle Jesus into making 
some statement which would he used against 
him with Herod, who was living in unlawful 
wedlock with Herodias. Was it the woman 
of this occasion to whom Jesus said, when 
her accusers had gone away, ‘‘Woman, where 
are they? did no man condemn thee? And she 
said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said, Neither 
do I condemn thee: go thy way; from henceforth 
sin no more.” It is not possible to verify this 
assumption. Sure it is that the woman who fol¬ 
lowed Jesus to the house of Simon had been 
given “a new lease of life” by Christ, that she 
had bought an alabaster cruse of ointment with 
hard-earned money, that she might show her 
love and reverence. 

When she arrived behind the Master, she 
noted that Simon, as host, had failed in two 
points of etiquette. He had not furnished a 
basin of water for the feet of the dust-covered 
traveler; he had not given him a “kiss of salu¬ 
tation.” Perhaps Simon showed thus that he 
considered Jesus his social inferior; perhaps it 
was a case of neglect. The woman, before she 
opened her box of ointment, wept and kissed the 


264 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


feet of Jesus and dried them with the long hair 
upon her head as she knelt before him. Ap¬ 
parently this woman had come unseen into the 
room where Simon and his guests were reclining 
at the table. This would be easily accomplished 
if the room was on the open courtyard, as in 
many Palestinian homes. Simon saw her, but 
he refrained from speaking hard words to her 
because he thought this would test the prophetic 
insight of Jesus; if he were what his disciples 
claimed for him, he would divine that she was an 
outcast and send her aw T ay. Perhaps Jesus read 
the unspoken thought on Simon’s face. He 
used the opportunity to teach a lesson of for¬ 
giveness and charitable consideration by speak¬ 
ing that beautiful parable of the creditor and 
his debtors. Emboldened by the host’s possible 
sneers, Jesus sent the message home by remind¬ 
ing him of his remissness in regard to furnish¬ 
ing water and oil for cleansing and anointing. 
Then he turned to the woman, kneeling in peni¬ 
tence and adoration, and spoke those significant 
and much-discussed words, ‘ ‘ Her sins which are 
many are forgiven, for she loved much. . . . 
Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. ’ 9 So she 
was dismissed with a blessing and went away to 
control her passions and live an honest life. 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


265 


With graphic words has M. Papini in his “Life 
of Christ” emphasized the true meaning of this 
incident, the real character of this woman when 
she came to anoint Jesus; “This sinning woman 
who entered the house of Simon with her box of 
alabaster was no longer a sinner. . . . She was 
no longer a woman for hire; she had heard Jesus 
speak, and was no longer the public woman, 
flesh on sale for masculine desires. . . . The 
woman who had belonged to every one had 
learned that there is a love more beautiful than 
lust, a poverty richer than clinking coins.” 1 
With sympathetic insight Hartley Coleridge 
poetized this same scene: 

She sat and wept, and with her untressed hair, 

Still wiped the feet she was so blessed to touch; 

And he wiped off the soiling of despair 

From her sweet soul, because she loved so much. 

Jesus did not offend further by retaining her 
at the table. He knew that her personal love for 
him was coupled with her gratitude for his for¬ 
giveness and for his encouragement for future 
peace of soul as well as cleanliness of body. One 
can readily imagine the effect of this incident 
upon Simon, a typical Pharisee. Doubtless, he 

1<( Life of Christ/’ by Giovanni Papini, 1923. By per¬ 
mission of Harcourt, Brace & Co. 


266 WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 

thanked “God that he was not as other men 
were.” 


Mary of Magdala 

Thus far we have found, among the friends of 
Jesus, many women of smirched or questionable 
reputation. Jesus seemed to respond by 
especial tenderness to the soul-cry of such 
women. He became the first champion in his¬ 
tory of the unfortunate women who had been 
driven or cajoled to lives of social impurity. 
To such he opened the first “door of hope.” 
Older commentators have listed Mary Mag¬ 
dalene among this class of women. Later 
biblical scholars, however, give another inter¬ 
pretation to her character. Her name was not 
Magdalene, “the penitent,” but Mary of the 
town of Magdala, near Tiberias and the old 
watch-tower. Lightfoot explains her name with 
reference to “a plaiter of hair” or a woman of 
“light character.” Eusebius says there may 
have been two Magdalenes. Some writer has 
suggested that she was the daughter of the 
Syrophenician woman from whom the “de¬ 
mons” were cast away by Jesus. At some 
time, into her stricken life, tormented by 
“seven demons,” Jesus had brought his cura- 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


267 


tive power. This old phraseology is loosely 
used for physical and moral diseases, hence the 
popular conception of her in the past as a 
profligate. 

It is certain that she was a woman of social 
standing from her constant association with 
Mary the mother of Jesus, his aunt, and the 
other women who followed him on his journeys 
and were with him at the cross and tomb. No 
recital of the story of Easter day is complete 
without remembrance of Mary of Magdala at the 
tomb and her strange joy. To this woman, with 
her deep, emotional nature, her quick decisions 
and generous impulses, it seemed impossible to 
believe that her Messiah, her Healer and 
Saviour, was dead. He had brought into her 
life such manifestations of his divine power 
that she felt assured he would either save him¬ 
self upon the cross, by a miracle, or “rise from 
the dead the third day,* ’ as he had said. She is 
mentioned by Matthew with “the other Mary, 
sitting over against the sepulchre,” after Jo¬ 
seph of Arimathea, a rich member of the san¬ 
hedrim or a “councillor,” but a believer in 
Jesus, had wrapped the body and laid in a new 
tomb, and departed. 

The narratives of Resurrection Mom differ 


268 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


so much in the four Gospels that it is difficult 
to ascertain the true sequence. John says that 
Mary Magdalene came “first” to the sepulcher 
4 ‘early while it was yet dark,” and gave the 
alarm to Peter and John that the stone had been 
rolled away and that Jesus was not there. Other 
accounts include her with Mary, mother of 
James, and Salome, who came to anoint the body 
with spices. The essential thought is that this 
woman, who had been close to Jesus in friend¬ 
ship during his lifetime, found his spirit and re¬ 
ceived comfort from his words on that Easter 
morning. Her grief when she found the tomb 
empty was assuaged, not alone by the vision of 
the angels at the entrance to the tomb, but even 
more by the voice of Jesus. That is a dramatic 
narrative, with deep religious feeling, which 
John tells of Jesus talking to Mary Magdalene 
as she wept: “Woman, why weepest thou!’ 
whom seekest thou?” It was natural that she 
should think “he was the gardener.” Jesus 
stood behind her; she, probably, did not turn to 
see him. Even his voice was not familiar to her 
ears until he spoke her name, ‘ ‘ Mary. ’ ’ Then, 
with amazement and holy joy, she turned and 
said unto him, ‘ ‘ Rabboni, ” or “ Teacher. ’’ The 
other women had gone back to their homes when 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


269 


the body of Jesus was not found at the tomb; 
Mary had remained and had been blessed with 
assurance that her friend, the Saviour of the 
World, was spiritually alive. Painters have 
usually chosen to portray this woman as young 
and beautiful, sometimes with golden hair, 
sometimes with black. Often the crucifix is be¬ 
side her or an angel at the tomb. Guido Reni 
painted several faces of this Mary; those in the 
Louvre and the National Gallery, London, are 
most familiar. She has been interpreted, also, 
by Rubens and Titian, Murillo and Veronese. 
In religious poetry she is too often regarded as 
‘ ‘ a sinner ’’ rather than a whole-hearted, strong- 
willed woman who was restored from illness to 
health by Jesus and became one of his most in¬ 
fluential, devoted friends. 

One of the beautiful traditions associated 
with this woman is embodied in the poem, “The 
Rose of Jericho / 7 found in “A Pilgrim in Pal¬ 
estine/ J by John Finley : 1 

“What though the Flowers in Joseph’s garden grew 
Of rarest perfume and of fairest hue, 

That morn when Magdalene hastened through 
Its fragrant, silent paths ? 

1 1919. By permission of Charles Scribner J s Sons. 


270 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


“She caught no scent of budding almond tree; 

Her eyes, tear-blinded, still from Calvary, 

Saw neither lily nor anemone— 

Naught save the Sepulchre. 

“But when the Master whispered ‘Mary’ lo! 

The Tomb was hid; the Garden all ablow; 

And burst in bloom the Rose of Jericho— 

From that day ‘Mary’s Flower.’ ” 

Mary and Martha: Contrasts in 
Temperament 

These two women, Mary and Martha, sisters 
of Lazarus, stand in the foreground of the life 
of Jesus. They have been the topic of innumer¬ 
able sermons and much misinterpretation. 
They are of interest to a psychologist, to an 
analyst of contrasting natures, apart from their 
share in the story of Jesus. Their types are 
with us to-day, as they have always been—the 
busy, practical, irritable, loyal woman, foiled by 
the dreamy, lethargic, spiritual companion. We 
do not know just when Jesus began to make 
their home in Bethany his home, whenever he 
was in their vicinity. Bethany was a village on 
the southeast slope of Mount Olivet, about fif¬ 
teen furlongs, or two miles, on the Jericho road, 
from Jerusalem. It was the “house of Simon, 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


271 


the leper, ’’ as spoken of in one place; in another 
it is called ‘ ‘ the home of Martha. ’ ’ This has led 
to different surmises; one is that Martha was 
the widow of Simon, who was dead; another is 
that Simon lived, that Martha was his wife or 
daughter, but that Simon, because of his lep¬ 
rosy, was no longer at home. The later, more 
generally accepted interpretation makes Mar¬ 
tha, like Mary, an unmarried sister of Lazarus. 
Lazarus was one of the few men-friends, other 
than the disciples, that are mentioned among 
the associates of Jesus. He “loved” Lazarus. 
In their home he often “tarried.” It was a 
home of comforts, even of luxuries. Martha’s 
supervision of the food did not imply a lack 
of servants; it was the delightful custom of 
the Jews of all generations to consider this 
an honorable task for the home-maker. Their 
tomb was in their garden—a mark of some 
social distinction. Mary’s expenditure of 
about three hundred shillings for costly oint¬ 
ment, as a tribute to Jesus, was not reproved 
by her family, not by thrifty Martha even, as 
extravagance. They could invite frie nds of 
influence to meet Jesus here—doubtless, they 
often did so—but the chief delight of all the 
household, and their friendly Master, was a 




272 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


quiet “supper’’ where they could talk freely 
and intimately. 

There are three specific occasions which have 
been commemorated by the Gospel writers in 
this home at Bethany. The first, as related by 
Luke, was on the return of Jesus, over the Jeri¬ 
cho road, beset with thieves, which had called 
forth his parable of the good Samaritan. Stop¬ 
ping at this Bethany home, probably unexpect¬ 
edly, he finds Martha “cumbered about much 
serving.’’ She was the housekeeper; she was 
responsible for the food and comforts of her 
guest as well as her family. She was tired, and 
probably a little cross, also. Mary, meanwhile, 
“sat at the Lord’s feet, and heard his word.” 
It is conceivable that Martha had already called 
Mary to help her prepare the meal^ but Mary 
was a sweet-tempered, irresponsible girl. Her 
type is not unknown; she does not mean to be 
lacking in helpfulness, but her mind and soul are 
not i ‘ fixed on mundane things. ’ ’ So Martha, ex¬ 
asperated and weary, trying to take the place 
of mother and sister in the household, and pos¬ 
sibly worried about her sick father, reproved 
Mary, in the presence of Jesus. She should 
have used more gentle words, but such was not 
her temperament; she included Jesus in her re- 


273 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 

proach, as she (‘came up to him, and said, Lord, 
dost thou not care that my sister did leave me to 
serve alone?/ Bid her, therefore, that she help 
me.” There is strong likelihood that this was 
Martha’s second or third call to Mary that had 
been unheeded. 

Let us not believe that Martha was without 
spiritual responsiveness because of this irri¬ 
table reproach. She was a disciple of Jesus, as 
has been recorded elsewhere; she, also, was 
eager to hear his “Word,” to listen to his re¬ 
cital of his journey to Jericho; but he and her 
family must be fed. If Mary would assist her, 
both could be at liberty to listen to the Master. 
Mary seemed to her to be selfish; she seems so 
to some of us to-day, as we read the story. Jesus 
was not severe in his reply to Martha. Inter¬ 
preters, not Jesus, have construed this into a 
harsh rebuke. In the later rendering the words 
are kindly as well as true; “Martha, Martha, 
thou art anxious and troubled about many 
things: but one thing is needful: for Mary hath 
chosen the good part, which shall not be taken 
away from her.” Spiritual food is far more 
important than physical, said Jesus in these 
words. It was a truth needed by Martha; it is 
essentially vital to-day, when the material is 


274 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


overtopping the spiritual in so many aspects of 
life. It emphasizes the receptive mind and soul, 
in contrast with the incessantly active hands and 
brains. One hopes that Martha would profit by 
this mild reproof and would not again “make 
such hard work” of her hospitality. Still, sym¬ 
pathy persists for this overburdened woman, 
suffering vicariously for the lonely Simon, if he 
lived, carrying two shares of family responsi¬ 
bility and anxiety, becoming hot, wrinkled, 
exhausted, and depressed in soul, while Mary, 
the serene, with unwrinkled brow, with calm¬ 
ness and charm in appearance, was unreproved. 
Mary gave to Jesus the atmosphere of hospi¬ 
tality; Martha prepared its symbols. At that 
time, the spiritual comradeship was far more 
welcome to Jesus than were the practical com¬ 
forts that Martha was hastening to furnish. 

Had Martha sat all day “at the feet of Jesus” 
there would have been none of the necessary 
nourishment. Without Mary’s teachable spirit 
he would have been unsatisfied. St. Augustine 
summarized long ago the distinctive traits of 
these sisters: “The one was busy; the other 
was still; the one was giving out; the other 
was being filled. The Lord did not blame Mar¬ 
tha’s work but he distinguished between their 


275 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 

services.” Evidence comes forward every year 
that Martha and Mary are still subjects of vital 
discussion. GeJ.ett Burgess, in his whimsical 
booklet, “Have You an Educated Heart,” 1 has 
a timely message: “There is another side to the 
Mary and Martha story. I know them well, 
those two sisters. Mary loves Martha well, she 
will tell you, and be shocked at your question. 
But dear Martha is, before her time, an old wo¬ 
man, round-shouldered, bowed down by caring 
for others. In the years has Mary ever said: 
Straighten up, dear! You are growing crooked! 
Not once. Her own head high, she walks beside 
a sister almost deformed—whom, with an Edu¬ 
cated Heart, she could have saved from ugli¬ 
ness.” 


The Raising of Lazarus 

There is a second scene in the intimate story 
of Martha and Mary. It is Jesus’ miraculous 
raising of Lazarus after he had been dead for 
four days. Jesus had again escaped from the 
multitude, across the Jordan, “into the place 
where John at first baptized,” or at Bethabara; 
this is rendered as “Bethany beyond the Jor¬ 
dan” in later versions and is not to be confused 

1 1923. By permission of Boni & Liveright. 


276 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


with the village of Bethany where Lazarus lived 
with his sisters. Word was brought to Jesus 
that Lazarus was ill; it was an appealing mes¬ 
sage of the sisters: “Lord, behold, he whom 
thou lovest is sick.” Jesus did not hasten to 
the Bethany home, as one would expect. John, 
writing many years later, gave his own inter¬ 
polation: “Now Jesus loved Martha and her 
sister and Lazarus.” It is difficult to explain 
the words here recorded as spoken by Jesus 
while he waited: “This sickness is not unto 
death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of 
God may be glorified thereby.” The narrator 
implies that Jesus waited until death should 
seal the illness and enable him thus to disclose 
his power over death. 

The human side of the scene is more simple 
and less involved. At the risk of being stoned 
by the Jews, Jesus decided on the third day to 
start on his return journey into Judea, saying to 
his disciples, “Our friend Lazarus is fallen 
asleep; but I go, that I may awake him out of 
sleep.” Then Jesus came slowly, judging from 
the time he consumed, and found Lazarus had 
been in the tomb for four days. One thing is 
noteworthy in the story: Martha, “when she 
heard that Jesus was coming, went and met 


277 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 

him; but Mary still sat in the house.’’ Charac¬ 
teristic of each is the description: Martha’s in- 
cessancy must find some expression even in her 
sorrow; Mary’s grief was quiet and restrained. 
Both the sisters say the same words of faith in 
the power of Jesus, yet with reproach and hope¬ 
less grief: ‘ 4 Lord, if thou hadst been here, my 
brother had not died.” Neither of them could 
understand the cryptic words of Jesus begin¬ 
ning, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” 
Martha’s faith was strong, but it could not 
accept the ultimate proof, although she 
did believe that he was “ Christ, the Son of 
God.” 

Meantime, Jesus had missed Mary when 
Martha came to meet him; he asked for her; 
Martha returned to the house and called Mary 
6 4 secretly,” saying, “The Master [the later ver¬ 
sion is “Teacher”] is here and calleth for 
thee.” One of the most inspiring of the many 
religious poems by Christina Rossetti has these 
words for title and motive; the opening stanzas 
suggest the quality: 

Who calleth? Thy Father calleth, 

Run, 0 Daughter, to wait on Him: 

He who chasteneth but for a season 
Trims thy lamp that it burn not dim. 


278 


WOMEN OP THE BIBLE 


Who calleth? Thy Master calleth, 

Sit, Disciple, and learn of Him: 

He Who teacheth wisdom of Angels 
Makes thee wise as the Cherubim. 

Who calleth? Thy Monarch calleth, 

Rise, 0 Subject, and follow Him: 

He is stronger than Death or Devil, 

Pear not thou if the foe be grim. 

So Jesus did, in truth, “trim the lamp” of 
Mary’s faith. “Groaning in spirit,” himself 
weeping as he saw Mary’s tears, Jesus exerted 
his miraculous powers and brought life into 
Lazarus and his home in place of death. M. 
Papini has visualized this scene at the resurrec¬ 
tion in terse sentences : 1 

Martha, the housekeeper, the practical, concrete 
character, interrupted, ‘ ‘ Lord, by this time he 
stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.” But 
Jesus did not heed her, “Take away the stone.” And 
the stone was rolled away. Jesus made a short prayer, 
His face lifted towards the sky, drew near to the hole 
and called his friend in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come 
forth. ’’ 

And Lazarus came forth, stumbling, for his hands 
and feet were shrouded and his face covered with a 
napkin. 

111 Life of Christ, ’ ’ by Giovanni Papini, 1923. By permission 
of Harcourt, Brace & Co. 1923. 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


279 


“Loose him, and let him go.” 

And all four, followed by the Twelve and by a 
throng of thunderstruck Jews, returned to the house. 

The Farewell Supper and Mary's Box of 

Spikenard 

A little later comes the third scene in the 
story of these sisters. It was probably the day 
before the triumphant entry into Jerusalem— 
the ‘ 4 sixth day before the Passover.’ ’ Again he 
stopped at the Bethany home. Lazarus was 
well and able to greet his friend. “So they 
made him a supper there and Martha served.” 
We may well believe it was a generous, well 
cooked supper. We are left in doubt whether 
Mary assisted this time, but one thing we are 
told by three of the Synoptics: when the suoper 
was ready, and Jesus and his disciples were 
seated on the couches at the table, Mary “took a 
pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, 
and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his 
feet with her hair: and the house was filled with 
the odor of the ointment.” It was a farewell 
supper for their Lord, although they did not 
realize this. Jesus foresaw his doom close at 
hand. When his betrayer, Judas, now seated 
with the disciples, upbraided Mary and her fam- 


280 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


ily for wasting “three hundred shillings” that 
might be given to the poor,” Jesus answered, in 
veiled sorrow, “Suffer her to keep it against the 
day of my burying. For the poor ye have always 
with you: but me ye have not always.” Mat¬ 
thew and Mark include the other disciples in the 
reproof to Mary for extravagance, and add the 
implication that she was disturbed by their atti¬ 
tude, for Jesus said to them, “Why trouble ye 
the woman! for she hath wrought a good work 
upon me. . . . And verily I say unto you, 
wheresoever the gospel shall be preached 
throughout the whole world, that also which this 
woman hath done shall be spoken of as a me¬ 
morial of her.” 

Tennyson has immortalized Mary’s tribute 
and her personality in the stanzas of “In Me- 
moriam”: 

Her eyes are homes of silent prayer, 

Nor other thought her mind admits 
But, he was dead and there he sits 
And he that brought him back is there. 

Then one deep love doth supersede 
All other, when her ardent gaze 
Roves from the living brother’s face, 

And rests upon the Life indeed. 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


281 


All subtle thought, all curious fears, 

t * 

Borne down by gladness so complete; 

She bows, she bathes the Saviour’s feet 

With costly spikenard, and with tears. 

Groups of Women-Workers with the 

Apostles 

Passing on to the period of the early Christian 
church, we find mention of a few women who 
were evidently friends and co-workers with 
John, Peter, Paul, Silas, Barnabas, and other 
apostles. Often the reference is meager—only 
a brief comment, mention of a name with salu¬ 
tation or benediction, in the Acts or the Epistles 
of Paul and John to the churches in Asia Minor 
and at Rome. The references to the ‘ ‘ elect 
lady” and her household, in the Second Epistle 
of John, have been mentioned. She was lovable 
and helpful in spirit. Two women, generally 
called sisters, Tryphosa and Tryphaena, and 
their associates are saluted as those “who la¬ 
bored much in the Lord,” in the letter to the 
Roman churches. “Persis the beloved” is in¬ 
cluded in the same greeting as are also Julia and 
“Mary, who bestowed much labor on you.” 
Was this Mary the mother of Mark! There was, 
also, a mother of “Rufus the chosen in the 


282 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


Lord,” to whom a tender message was sent— 
“his mother and mine” are the words of Paul. 
Priscilla, who leads the list of women at Home, 
has already been studied in an earlier chapter. 

At Philippi Paul and Timothy had several 
fellow-workers who were mentioned in counsel 
and remembrance: “I exhort Euodia, and I ex¬ 
hort Syntyche, to be of the same mind in the 
Lord. Yea, I beseech thee also, true yokefellow, 
help these women, for they labored with me in 
the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of 
my fellow-workers, whose names are in the 

book of life.” Evidently, these two women, 

\ 

zealous in their Christian service, had quar¬ 
reled seriously. Perhaps they were deacon¬ 
esses, with the joint tasks of teaching and pre¬ 
paring for baptism among the women and, also, 
caring for the sick and poor. Humanity is 
revealed in this passage, with the virtue of 
ardent zeal and the vice of personal pique or 
antagonism. No commentator has seemed to 
identify the “true yoke-feliow”; perhaps it w T as 
a reference to Epaphroditus; perhaps to Luke. 

The work of Paul at Athens has sometimes 
been called a failure but later events entirely 
disprove this estimate. He speaks with kind 
remembrance of one woman “named Damaris,” 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


283 


and of others who believed. The reference to 
the .“household of Chloe,” from whom he had 
heard of “contentions” among the brethren at 
Corinth, suggests a friend and helper. The 
four unmarried daughters of Philip, the evan¬ 
gelist, “did prophesy.” This word, here used, 
does not refer to future soothsaying but to ac¬ 
tive service in teaching and preaching Christian 
doctrines. Says J. Austin Lumby, in the Cam¬ 
bridge Bible, commenting on this passage: 
“The family of the Evangelist were walking in 
their father’s steps. These daughters, instead 
of resting at home, took upon them the hard 
duty of publishing the message of the Gospel.” 

Paul specifies one “Phoebe our sister, who is 
a servant of the church at Cenchrese,” urging 
the brethren to “receive her in the Lord, wor¬ 
thily of the saints, and that ye assist her in 
whatsoever matters she may have need of you; 
for she herself also hath been a helper of many, 
and of mine own self.” 

What was the relation of these women to the 
apostles? What services did they render? Eu¬ 
sebius said that many women, in the later days 
of persecution, “were no less manly than the 
men in behalf of the teaching of the Divine 
Word, as they endured conflicts with the men 


284 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


and tore away equal prizes of virtue; and when 
they were dragged away for corrupt purposes, 
they surrendered their lives to death rather 
than their bodies to impurity.” Some of the 
women were deaconesses; such was Phoebe, a 
European Greek, known to Paul at Cenchreae, a 
part of Corinth; greetings to her have been 
quoted. She was generous and gifted. She car¬ 
ried—possibly she wrote it, also—an important 
letter and gave “ministry of help” to Paul and 
his companions. Other women served quietly in 
their homes like Lois and Eunice, performing 
the unequaled ministry of teaching and train¬ 
ing their sons, so that they likewise might be¬ 
come preachers and missionaries. 

Much has been written about Paul’s attitude 
toward the work of women in the Christian 
church. While he must have recognized the 
work of certain women, and while he exhorted 
others to continue their inspiring services, as 
Priscilla and Phoebe and Persis, yet he re¬ 
iterated his unwillingness to have women ap¬ 
pear unveiled. He accepted the ideas of Jesus 
regarding the mental equality of women as silent 
disciples, but he insisted upon observance of 
certain customs. Disorder and even licentious¬ 
ness might result from too lax departures from 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


285 


traditional manners, especially such as affected 
women’s modesty. His word is definite in I 
Timothy: “But I permit not a woman to teach, 
nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in 
quietness.” Another mooted passage is that 
which occurs in I Corinthians, regarding wom¬ 
en in the churches: “let the women keep silence 
in the churches: for it is not permitted unto 
them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as 
also saith the law. And if they would learn 
anything, let them ask their own husbands at 
home: for it is shameful for a woman to speak 
in the church.” This advice, sent in response 
to questions from leaders of the church at 
Corinth, would indicate that women were al¬ 
ready seeking more freedom, both .in education 
and expression. Perhaps they may have 
smiled, as we are inclined to do, at that advice 
of Paul, almost a command, “if they would 
learn anything,” to “ask their husbands.” 
Paul’s contention, as we read it, was not that a 
woman had no right to speak in public churches 
but that it was not expedient for her to do so; 
it might create dissension and lose converts. 
Says Dr. Arthur C. McGiffert in “The Apos¬ 
tolic Age,” “It was generally regarded as a 
scandal for a woman to put herself forward in 


286 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


public and the benefit her words might convey 
would be more than counterbalanced by the evil 
effect of such violation of the common rule of 
decency.’’ It is certain that Paul, like other 
leaders, recognized the success of appeals made 
by some few women, but he feared any rash 
“letting down of the bars” of social conven¬ 
tions. 


Dorcas, or Tabitha 

Dorcas, called Tabitha in the Aramaic, lived 
at Joppa. This was the great seaport of Jeru¬ 
salem, rich in traffic and fine homes. Luke called 
her a “disciple,” but there is no mention of 
meetings that were held at her house. She was 
a model of uprightness and generosity; “this 

4 

woman was full of good works and almsdeeds 
which she did.” She was evidently wealthy, for 
many widows shared her bounty. She was a 
home-maker, deft and industrious with her 
needle. When it was thought she was dead, “all 
the widows stood weeping, and shoving the 
coats and garments which Dorcas made, while 
she was with them.” This woman of domestic 
graces and lovable disposition, this householder 
of wide philanthropies, fell ill while Peter was 
at Lydda. He had cured there a man, one 



TIIE CHARITY OF DORCAS 

Bv w. C. T. Dobson 







FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


287 


/Eneas, i ‘sick of the palsy/’ “who had kept his 
bed eight years.” Naturally all the country¬ 
side had heard of this miraculous healing, for 
Joppa was near Lydda. When Dorcas died, the 
‘ ‘ disciples ’ ’ sent immediately for Peter. It was 
an urgent word, sent by two men: “delay not 
to come on unto us.” 

It is likely that Peter knew Dorcas by reputa¬ 
tion, if not personally. He came at once. With 
quick action, he sent out from her chamber all 
the weeping widows and others who were 
mourning for her. Then he knelt in prayer. 
“Tabitha, arise,” were his words that brought 
life. What was her part in this resurrection! 
Her past life of clean living, her devout faith 
and obedience. She was restored to years of 
service for others. One may believe that she be¬ 
came a friend and helper to Peter and the other 
apostles in the many ways in which her gener¬ 
ous heart and ample resources could serve them. 
She has been heroine of several works of art— 
the fresco in the Brancacci Chapel in the Car¬ 
mine, Florence, painted by Masolino da Pani- 
cale; Guercino*s work in the Pitti Gallery; and 
modern conceptions like the familiar grouping, 
“Alms Deeds; or, The Charity of Dorcas,” by 
W. C. T. Dobson. 


288 WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 

Did Dorcas ever know Jesus? There is no 
evidence on the subject. George MacDonald an¬ 
swers in the affirmative in his poem: 

If I might guess, then guess I would 
That, mid the gathered folk, 

This gentle Dorcas one day stood, 

And heard when Jesus spoke. 

She saw the woven, seamless coat, 
Half-envious for his sake: 

Oh! happy hands; she said, that wrought 
The honored thing to make. 

“Dorcas societies’’ were more active in 
churches in older generations than they are to¬ 
day; groups of women with willing hands and 
generous hearts thus commemorated the prac¬ 
tical, noble woman-friend of Joppa. 

Lydia, Seller of Purple 

In this twentieth century there is more kin¬ 
ship with Lydia, seller of purple, than with Dor¬ 
cas, seamstress and home-keeper. Lydia was 
an alert, progressive woman of her time. Her 
real name may have been Lydia, or that may 
have been her appellation among the people of 
Philippi because she came from the Lydian town 
of Thyatira. Thyatira was on the river Lycus 
in Lydia. Inscriptions on the site of the old 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


289 


town indicate that dyeing, especially with purple 
dyes, was one of its chief trades. This woman 
had brought some of the purple dyes— 
perhaps other hues, for they varied from red 
to sea-green and blue—from Thyatira to sell 
in the large city of Philippi. She may have sold 
dyed garments rather than dyes alone. Philippi 
was under Roman administration at this time; 
it was Roman in its language and customs. 
Here Lydia had a house and a household, which 
would imply servants and possibly some chil¬ 
dren. We have no information whether she was 
unmarried or a widow; she seemed to be the 
“head” of the family. She was a successful 
business woman; she was also a religious 
woman who never neglected worship for her 
trade. 

Paul and Silas came to Philippi after the inci¬ 
dent of the vision of a man who said to Paul, 
“Come over into Macedonia and help us,” while 
Paul and Silas were at Troas on their mission¬ 
ary journey. They remained at Philippi several 
days, as it was the “chief city of Macedonia.” 
When the Sabbath came they found no syna¬ 
gogue but a “place of prayer” by the riverside, 
where devout Jewish proselytes often gathered. 
Several women were in the company when the 


290 


WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 


apostles sat down and began to preach. Doubt¬ 
less, the ceremonial ablutions, exacted by law, 
could best be performed near the waterside. 
Among the auditors were Lydia and her house¬ 
hold. She was, probably, a Jewish proselyte. 
She gave “heed unto the things” which Paul 
spoke; Luke says the Lord opened her heart. 
She gave spiritual response to the Christian 
teaching, and she, with her household, was bap¬ 
tized. 

Lydia had resolute courage. She might have 
seriously injured her trade in dyes by accept¬ 
ing this “new religion.” Already Paul and 
Silas had been arousing antagonism among the 
envious Jews; soon afterward they were beaten 
and imprisoned after they had spoiled trade by 
healing the demoniac girl. Lydia had no 
scruples about facing such a possible result. 
She was not afraid of social criticism. With the 
gracious words and humility of a true gentle¬ 
woman, she extended the hospitality of her 
home to Paul and Silas; “If ye have judged me 
to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, 
and abide there.” She urged the request until 
she “constrained” them. To Paul this woman 
must have given congenial comradeship. She 
was well educated for her time, widely traveled, 


FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS 


291 


and alert and interesting. At the same time, 
she had a strange, spiritual insight. We 
would like to know more about Lydia. She re¬ 
sembles, in many ways, the modern woman of 
ambition and efficiency. She was proud to be a 
wage-earner; she was proud to be a hostess and 
a friend to men of religious purposes. She was 
faithful to older forms of worship, yet open- 
minded to new preaching, making her decisions 
with courage and spiritual progress. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BOOKS OF GENERAL INFORMATION AND BACKGROUND 

{ ‘A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age,” 
by Arthur Cushman McGiffert. Rev. ed., New 
York, 1900. 

“A History of the Hebrew People,” by Charles Foster 
Kent, 2 vols. New York, 1896. 

Antiquities of the Jews,” by Flavius Josephus; 
Works, translated by W. M. Whiston. New 
York, 1905; earlier editions. 

c ‘Bible Chronology Carefully Unfolded, etc.,” by 
the Rev. Smith B. Goodenow. New York, 1896. 

“Bible Dictionary,” by D. B. Hastings, 6 vols. New 
York, 1898. 

“Bible Types of Modern Women,” by the Rev. W. 
Mackintosh Mackay; sermons. Second ed., 
New York, 1922. 

‘ ‘Biblical Geography and History,” by Charles 
Foster Kent. New York. 

‘‘ Early Bible Songs, ” by A. H. Drysdale. New York, 
1890. 

“ Education in Ancient Israel,” by Fletcher Harper 
Swift. New York, 1919. 

“Education of Christ, The,” by William Mitchell 
Ramsey. New ed., New York, 1902. 

4 ‘Epistle to the Romans: A Practical Exposition,” 
by Charles Gore. New York, 1900. 

“Extra-Biblical Sources for Jewish History,” by the 
Rev. Samuel A. B. Mercer. London, 1913. 

293 


294 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


‘‘Folklore in the Old Testament,” by James George 
Frazer, 3 vols. New ed., New York, 1919. 
“Great Teachers of Judaism and Christianity, The,” 
by Charles Foster Kent. New York, 1911. 
“Greater Men and Women of the Bible,” by James 
Hastings. Edinburgh, 1913. 

“Hebrew Life and Thought,” by Louise Seymour 
Houghton. Chicago, 1906. 

“Heroines of the Bible in Art,” by Clara Erskine 
Clement. Boston, 1900. 

“Historical Geography of the Holy Land, The,” by 
George Adam Smith. Third ed., New York, 1895. 
“Historicity of Jesus, The,” by Shirley Jackson. 
Chicago, 1912. 

“History of the People of Israel,” by Joseph Ernest 
Renan, 5 vols. Boston, 1889-1896. 

“History of the People of Israel,” by C. H. Cowhill. 
Chicago, 1909. 

‘ ‘ Home-Life in the Bible, ’ ’ by Henrietta Lee Palmer. 
Boston, 1881. 

“Human Nature in the Bible,” by William Lyon 
Phelps. New York, 1923. 

“In the Time of Jesus,” by Martin Seidel. New 
York, 1885. 

“Isaiah: His Life and Times,” by S. R. Driver. 
New York, 1890. 

‘ ‘ Israel’s Historical and Biographical Narratives, ’ 1 by 
Charles Foster Kent. New York, 1904. 

“Jesus of Nazareth: His Life and Teachings,” by 
Lyman Abbott. New York, 1882. 

“Jesus of History, The,” by T. R. Glover. New 
York, 1919. 

“Jews in Ancient and Modern Times, The,” by J. K. 
Hosmer. London, 1889. 

“Legends of the Virgin and Christ,” by H. A. Grue- 
ber. New York, 1896. 

“Life and Literature of the Ancient Hebrews,” by 
Lyman Abbott. Boston, 1901. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 295 

‘Life and Times of the Patriarchs/’ by William 
Hanna Thomson. New York, 1912. 

‘Life of Christ,” by Giovanni Papini, translated by 
Dorothy Canfield Fisher. New York, 1923. 

‘Life of Christ,” by Dean F. W. Farrar. New 
York, 1874. 

‘Life of Jesus,” by George H. Gilbert (Students’ 
Life). Third ed., New York, 1900. 

‘Minor Prophets, The,” by Dean Farrar. New 
York, 1895. 

‘ Old Testament History, ’ ’ by Ismer J. Peritz. New 
York, 1915. 

‘Old Testament History,” by Henry Preserved 
Smith. New York, 1906. 

‘Orient in Bible Times, The,” by Elihu Grant. 
Philadelphia, 1920. 

‘Out of Doors in Palestine,” by Henry Van Dyke. 
New York, 1908. 

‘Representative Women of the Bible, The,” by 
George Matheson. London and New York, 1907. 
‘Sketches of Jewish Social Life: In the Days of 
Christ,” by Alfred Edersheim. New York, 1876. 
‘Social Life of the Hebrews, The,” by Edward Day. 
New York, 1901. 

‘Solomon: His Life and Times,” by Dean F. W. 

Farrar. New York, 1888. 

‘Story of the Jews, The,” by J. K. Hosmer. New 
York, 1887. 

‘St. Paul the Hero,” by Rufus M. Jones. New York, 
1922. 

‘Students’ Life of Jesus,” by George H. Gilbert. 
New York, 1900. 

‘ Temple, The : Its Ministry and Service, ’ ’ by Alfred 
Edersheim. New York, 1874. 

‘The Twelve Prophets, The Book of,” by George 
Adam Smith, 2 vols. New York, 1896-1898. 
‘Women in the Ancient Hebrew Cult,” by Ismer J. 
Peritz in “Journal of Biblical Literature.” 


296 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

“Women of the Bible,” by eminent divines. New 
York, 1900. 

“Women of the Bible: Rebekah to Priscilla,” by H. E. 
Lewis. New York, 1904. 

“Women of the New Testament,” by Walter F. 

Adeney. London and New York. 

“Women of the Old Testament, Famous,” by Morton 
Bryan Wharton. New York, 1889. 


POETRY, DRAMA, FICTION, PORTRAYING INDIVIDUAL 

WOMEN 

“A Pilgrim in Palestine” (Mary of Magdala), “The 
Rose of Jericho,” by John Finley. 

“Athaliah”; play by Racine. 

“A Mother’s Secret” (Mary); poem by Oliver Wen¬ 
dell Holmes. 

“Christus: A Mystery,” by Henry W. Longfellow. 

“Dorcas,” by George MacDonald; poem. 

“Elijah at Sarepta”; poem by John Keble. 

“Esther” and “Berenice”; plays by Racine; adapted 
and translated by John Masefield. New York, 
1923. 

“The Future,” stanza on Rebekah, by Matthew 
Arnold. 

Genesis XXIY (“Rebekah”) ; poem by Arthur Hugh 
Clough. 

“Hagar in the Wilderness”; poem by Edwin Arnold. 

“Hagar in the Wilderness”; poem by N. P. Willis. 

“Have You an Educated Heart?” by Gelett Burgess 
(Mary and Martha). New York, 1923. 

“Herod”; play by Stephen Phillips. New York. 
(Mariamne). 

“In Memoriam”; poem by Tennyson: cccxx and 
cccxxi (Mary and Lazarus). 

“In Naaman’s House,” by Marion MacLean Finney* 
New York, 1923. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 297 

“Jephthah’s Daughter,” by Lord Byron; poem in 
‘ ‘ Hebrew Melodies.’ ’ 

“Judith and Holofernes”; dramatic poem by Thomas 
Bailey Aldrich. 

“Maiden in the Mountain” (Jephthah’s daughter), 
in “Panama and Other Poems,” by Stephen 
Phillips. New York, 1915. 

“Martha and Mary”; poem by Caroline A. Mason. 

“Miriam,” by E. Dudley Jackson. 

“On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity,” by John 
Milton. 

“Rizpah”; poem by William Cullen Bryant. 

“Ruth,” by Thomas Hood. 

“Salome”; a romance by Burris Jenkins. Philadel¬ 
phia, 1922. 

“Sound the Loud Timbrel” (Miriam Song); poem by 
Thomas Moore. 


SOME NOTEWORTHY MUSIC WHICH INTERPRETS CERTAIN 

WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 

“Athaliah,” by Handel. 

“Athalie,” by Mendelssohn. 

“At the Foot of the Cross,” by Dvorak. (Stabat 
Mater). 

“Ave Maria,” by Gounod. 

“Daughter of Jairus,” by Stainer. 

“Daughters of Jerusalem,” by Gounod. 

“Deborah,” by Handel. 

“Song of Deborah and Barak,” by Hugh Blair. 
“Eli,” by‘Costa (Hannah and Samuel). 

“Elijah,” by Mendelssohn. 

“Esther,” by Handel. 

“Israel in the Wilderness,” by Gaul. 

“Jephtha,” by Handel. 

“Judith,” by Chadwick. 

“Judith,” by C. H. H. Parry. 


298 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


“Legend of St. Elizabeth ,” by Liszt. 

“Magnificat in D,” by Bach. 

“Mary Magdalene,” by Stainer. 

‘ ‘ Queen of Sheba, ’ ’ by Harold Lohr. 

“Rebekah,” by Barnby. 

“Ruth,” by Gounod. 

“Ruth,” by Gaul. 

“Ruth,” by J. Astor Broad. 

“Naomi,” by E. T. Chipp. 

“Samson and Delilah,” by St. Saens. 

“Samson,” by Handel. 

“Shunamite,” by G. Garrett. 

‘ ‘ Song t ot Miriam, ’ ’ by Schubert. 

“Story of Bethany,” by H. Coward. 

“Last Night at Bethany,” by C. Lee Williams. 
“Susanna,” by Handel. 

“Widow of Zarephath,” by Alan Gray. 

“Women of Samaria,” by W. S. Bennett. 

Note. Nearly all of these compositions may be 
found in the Novello Edition. 


A FEW BOOKS OF BIBLICAL ART AND FAMOUS PICTURES 
REVEALING WOMEN OF THE BIBLE 

Among excellent Books and Collections of Art that 
may be mentioned are: 

“Heroines of the Bible in Art,” by Clara Erskine 
Clement. Boston, 1900. 

“The Bible in Art,” edited by W. Shaw Sparrow. 
2 vols. London: Hodder & Stoughton; New 
York* Doran, 1911. 

“The Gospel in the Old Testament”; “Scenes in the 
Life of Our Lord,” by Harold Copping. With 
Descriptive Letter Press by Handley C. G. 
Moule, Bishop of Durham. London; The Re¬ 
ligious Tract Society (all in color). 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


299 


‘ The Tissot Bible Pictures, ’’ in packages of both Old 
Testament and New. 416 Lafayette St., New 
York. 

‘The Children’s Bible,” edited by Sherman and Kent. 
New York, 1923. 

‘ The Perry Pictures, ’ ’ reproductions of classic paint¬ 
ings, etc. Malden, Mass. 

‘The Wilde Bible Pictures”; 120 Boylston St., 
Boston. 

‘Colored Interpretations,” by W. L. Taylor (Curtis 
Publ. Co.) of Rebekah, Ruth, Esther, The 
Nativity. 

‘Abraham Sending Forth Hagar,” by Andrian Van 
der Werff. 

‘Hagar Finds Refuge,” by Philip H. Calderon. 

‘Rebekah,” by Frederick Goodall; “Eliezer and 
Rebekah,” by Nicolas Pousin. 

‘ Miriam and Her Maidens, ’ ’ by Hensel. 

‘Miriam”; drawing by Jennie Wylie. 

‘Deborah, a Prophetess,” by Jennie Wylie. 

‘Deborah’s Song of Triumph,” by Dore. 

‘Jephthah,” by Millais. 

‘Jephthah’s Daughter,” by Charles Le Bran. 

‘Samson and Delilah,” by Andrea Mantegna. 

‘Ruth,” by Calderon; by Bruck-Lajos; by Nicolas 
Poussin; by Henry Ryland. 

‘The Dedication of Samuel,” by F. W. W. Topham. 

‘Judgment of Solomon,” by Raphael; by Veronese; 
by Dore. 

‘Queen of Sheba at Solomon’s Court,” by Rubens; 
by Sueur; by Herbert Moore. 

‘Rizpah,” by Lord Leighton. 

‘The Wife of Jeroboam and Ahijah,” by G. Grenville 
Manton. 

‘Ahab and Jezebel,” by T. M. Rooke. 

‘Death of Jezebel,” by Dore. 

‘Elijah Restoring Widow’s Son,” by Ford Madox 
Brown. 



300 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

“ Elisha Raising Son of Shunamite , 9 ’ by Lord Leigh¬ 
ton. 

“Naaman’s Wife and Maid,” by F. W. W. Topham. 

“Athaliah in the House of the Lord,” by Antoine 
Coypel. 

“Esther before Ahasuerus,” by Barrias; by Steen; 
by W. L. Taylor. 

‘‘ The Annunciation, ’ ’ by Burne-Jones. Hundreds of 
‘ ‘ Madonnas. ’ 1 

“Mary’s Visit to Elizabeth,” by Albertinelli; by 
Domenico Ghirlandaio. 

“The Nativity,” by Bourgereau; by Carl Muller; by 
W. L. Taylor. 

“Christ Taking Leave of His Mother,” by B. Plock- 
hurst. 

“Christ in the Home of His Parents,” by Millais. 

“Woman of Samaria,” by William Dyce; by G. Rich¬ 
mond; by Hofmann; by Dore. 

“Magdalen,” by Rubens; by Paolo Caliari; by Carlo 
Dolci; by Corregio. 

“Mary of Bethany,” by G. W. Joy. 

“Bethany,” by Hofmann; by Eichstaedt; by Cop¬ 
ping (sometimes entitled “Christ in House of 
JVEcirthsi 

‘ ‘ Lost Piece of Silver, ’ ’ by Millais; by Copping. 

‘ ‘ Christ and the Three Marys, ’ ’ by Munkacsy. 

“St. John Leading Mary from the Tomb,” by William 
Dyce. 

“Mary Magdalene at the Sepulchre,” by Burne- 
J ones. 

“The Death of Sapphira,” by Nicolas Poussin. 

“Alms Deeds (or Charity) of Dorcas,” by W. C. T. 
Dobson. 

“The Raising of Tabitha,” by Carl Schonherr. 

“Paul Before Felix and Drusilla,” by Hogarth. 

* 1 St. Paul Before Agrippa II and His Sister, ’ ’ by Sir 
James Thornhill. 

From Apocrypha: 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 301 

Judith,” by Botticelli; by Allori; by Veronese; by 
Tintoretto; statue by Donatello. 

Susannah at the Bath,” by Tintoretto (several pic¬ 
tures) ; by Veronese; by Rubens; by Guido Reni; 
by Guercino; by Henner. 



NOTES 


While there is no attempt to give references for the 
majority of biblical extracts or more familiar com¬ 
mentaries, which may be readily found, there are sug¬ 
gestions here on more obscure passages or differing 
opinions among interpreters and critics. Some lit¬ 
erary allusions are, also, noted with titles of poems 
or books, in addition to more detailed lists in the 
Bibliography. 

CHAPTER II 

page 12, line 1 “Women in Ancient Hebrew 

Cults,’’ by I. J. Peritz, in 
“Journal of Biblical Litera¬ 
ture,” Vol. XVII. 
page 15, line 18 Isaiah 3:16-23. 
page 16, line 9 “A History of the Hebrew Peo¬ 
ple,” by Charles Foster Kent; 
Vol. I, p. 82, sec. 56. New 
York, 1896. 

page 20, line 11 Deut. 24:1. 

page 21, line 12 “Sketches of Jewish Social Life in 

the Time of Christ,” by Alfred 
Edersheim; p. 143. New York, 
1876. 

CHAPTER III 

page 44, line 17 “Sketches of Jewish Social Life, 

etc.,” Edersheim; pp. 144, 158. 
page 49, line 18 Josephus, “Antiquities of the 

Jews”; II :x. 

303 


304 


NOTES 


CHAPTER III—Continued 

page 54, line 4 Numbers 10 :29. 

page 59, line 10 ‘‘Samson Agonistes,” a dramatic 

poem by John Milton. 

page 61, line 18 See I Sam. 29:4. Also Josephus, 

“Antiq. of Jews”; VI :v, x, xi. 
page 62, line 21 II Sam. 3 :13-16. 
page 64, line 19 Compare I Sam. 18:19 with II 

Sam. 21:8. 

Also Josephus, “Antiq. of Jews”; 
YII :iv. 

page 68, line 12 Josephus, “Antiq. of Jews”; YII: 

vii. 

page 68, line 20 “David, son of Jesse,” a romance 

by Marjorie Strachey. New 
York, 1922. 

page 69, line 22 “Solomon, His Life and Times,” 

by Dean F. W. Farrar. New 
York, 1888. 

page 76, lines 1-151 Kings 14:1-17. 

page 80, line 8 “The Destruction of Sennacherib,” 

by Lord Byron. 

page 81, line 10 “Isaiah: His Life and Times,” by 

S. R. Driver. New York, 1890. 

Josephus, “Antiq. of Jews”; X:l. 
page 84, line 6 Ezekiel 24:15-18. 
page 85, line 12 “The Maid of Naaman’s Wife,” by 

John Drinkwater, in “Pre¬ 
ludes.” Boston, 1923. 

page 106, lines 1-Exodus 22:22, 23; Deut. 26:12,13; 

13 Isaiah 1:17; Psalms 68:5; I 

Tim. 5:3, 4. 

CHAPTER IY 

page 113, line 7 “Sketches of Jewish Social Life, 

etc.,” Edersheim; pp. 103-4. 
page 114, line 17 Messusah, or mezuzah; parchment 

in case of wood or metal. 


NOTES 


305 


page 117, 
page 132, 
page 137, 
page 141, 


page 143, 
page 147, 
page 152, 
page 155, 

page 158, 
page 160, 


line 12 Judges 20:16. 
line 23 Josephus, “Antiq. of Jews/’ II :ix. 
line 3 I Sam. 1:4, 5, 8, 15. 
lines 4-5‘‘Heroines of the Bible in Art,” 
Clara Erskine Clement; pp. 
190-199. 

line 9 “Rizpah,” by William Cullen 
Bryant. 

line 26 “A Mother’s Secret,” by Oliver 
Wendell Holmes. 

line 1 ‘ ‘ Christus: A Mystery, ’ ’ by Henry 
W. Longfellow; sec. 3. 
line 21 “Legends of the Virgin and 
Christ,” by H. A. Grueber. 
New York, 1896. 

line 17 Josephus, “Antiq. of the Jews”; 
XVIII :v, vii. 

line 18 “Salome,” by Burris Jenkins. 
Philadelphia, 1922. 


CHAPTER V 

page 164, line 20 “Women Through the Ages,” by 

Emil Reich, 2 vols. New York, 
1909. 


page 168, line 26 Josephus, “Antiq. of Jews”; 

IV :iv. 

page 176, line 23 “A History of the Hebrew Peo¬ 
ple,” Charles Foster Kent; p. 
77. 

page 182, line 11 “The Maiden in the Mountain,” 

from “Panama and Other 
Poems,” by Stephen Phillips, 
page 186, line 12 Josephus, “Antiq of Jews”; V:x. 
page 187, line 7 “Heroines of the Bible in Art,” 

Clara Erskine Clement; pp. 
143-155. Boston, 1900. See 
also ‘ ‘ Ruth, ’ ’ by Henry Ryland, 
in “The Children’s Bible.” 
New York, 1923. 


306 


NOTES 


CHAPTER V—Continued 

page 190, line 10 II Sam. 18 and 20. 

page 196, line 6 I Kings 16:30, 31. 

page 201, line 15 II Chron. 22:10 and 23 :1-21. 

page 205, line 7 Hastings’s Bible Dictionary. Also 

II Kings 22 and II Chron. 
34:22-28. 

page 217, line 20 ‘ ‘ Esther, ’ ’ by Racine, translated by 

John Masefield, 1922, is one of 
several plays about Esther. 
Josephus, “Antiq. of the Jews,” 
XI :vi, gives an expanded ac¬ 
count of her entrance to the 
king. 

page 216, line 6 “Judith and Holofernes,” by 

Thomas Bailey Aldrich, in 
“ Collected Poems.” Boston, 
1907. 

page 221, line 11 Hastings’s Bible Dictionary, 
page 222, lines 1- I Cor. 16:19; Romans 16:3; Acts 
10 18:26. 

CHAPTER VI 

page 224, line 18 “Life and Literature of the An¬ 
cient Hebrews,” by Lyman 
Abbott, p. 138. Boston, 1901. 
page 226, line 5 II Sam. 9 :3-8. 
page 228, line 17 Proverbs 9 :14-18. 
page 229, line 13 Josephus, “Antiq. of Jews”; V:1, 

xiv. 

page 242, line 6 “The Maid of Naaman’s Wife,” in 

“Preludes,” by John Drink- 
water. Boston, 1923. 

page 245, line 19 “Illustrated Commentary on the 

Gospels,” by Lyman Abbott; 
note, p. 52. New York, 1906. 
page 246, line 10 Luke 8 :l-3. 

page 247, lines 18 Matt, 20:20, 25-28; John 19 :25; 
22 


NOTES 


307 


page 251, 
page 251, 

page 251, 
24 

page 258, 
page 265, 


line 2 
line 8 

lines 18- 

line 18 
line 4 


page 269, line 6 


page 271, line 15 


page 275, line 4 


page 278, line 16 


page 282, 
page 285, 


line 5 
line 26 


Acts 12:12. See also Hastings’s 
Bible Dictionary on these 
women. 

“Women of the New Testament,” 
by Walter F. L. Adeney. 

“Illustrated Commentary on the 
Gospels,” by Lyman Abbott, p. 
195. 

Compare accounts in Matt. 9:18- 
25; Mark 5:22-42; Luke 9:41- 
56. 

“Jesus of Nazareth,” Lyman 
Abbott, p. 129. 

‘ ‘ Life of Christ, ’ ’ by Giovanni 
Papini, translated by Dorothy 
Canfield Fisher, p. 225. New 
York, 1923. 

Heroines of the Bible in Art, ’ ’ by 
Clara Erskine Clement, pp. 278 
301. Boston, 1900. 

“Jesus of Nazareth,” by Lyman 
Abbott, p. 368. New York, 
1882. 

Have You an Educated Heart,” 
by Gelett Burgess, p. 54. New 
York, 1923. 

Life of Christ,” by Papini, p. 
140; also Tennyson’s “In Me- 
moriam,” cccxx and cccxi. 

Romans 16:1, 12; Acts 17:34; I 
Cor. 1:11; Acts 21:9, 10. 

The Apostolic Age,” by Arthur 
C. McGiffert; pp. 305 306. 

Also I Cor. 14:34, 35. 


< C 


(( 


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INDEX 


Aaron, 53, 133, 165, 166, 169 
Abanah, 241 

Abbott, Lyman, quoted, 224, 
245, 249, 258 
Abel, city of, 190 
Abigail, 4, 13, 32, 64, 65, 66, 
224 

Abihail, 209 
Abijah, 75, 76, 79 
Abimelech, 17, 171, 192 
Abisliag, 42, 72 
Abner, 62, 63, 73 
Aboniam, 173 

Abraham, 10, 11, 16, 37, 119, 
120-124, 126 
Absalom, 17, 189, 190 
Achior, 214 
Achsah, 23 
Adam, 7, 8 
Adriel, 142 
Agrippa I, 158 
Agrippa II, 102, 103 
Ahab, 29, 44, 106, 196, 197, 
198, 201 

Ahasuerus, King, 86, 210 
Ahaz, 14, 82 

Ahaziah, 196, 200, 201, 202, 
227 

Ahijah, 74, 75 
Ahinoam, 67 

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, 
quoted, 216 
Alexandra, 94, 95 
Amalek, 175 
Amalekites, 17, 169 
Ammon, 189 

Ammonites, 11, 70, 74, 179, 
180 

Amon, 206 


Amorites, 17, 30 

Amos, 15, 81, 82 

Amran, 134 

Ananias, 104, 105 

Anna, Lady, 145 

Anna, prophetess, 4, 219, 220 

Antiochus, 100 

Apame, 91 

Apocrypha, 10, 145, 213, 251 

Apollos, 222 

Aquila, 13, 220 

Arabia, 12, 21, 121, 123, 192 

Arabian queen, 192 

Aretas, 151 

Aristobolus, 95, 96, 157 
Armoni, 142 

Arnold, Matthew, quoted, 127 
Asa, 196 
Asaiah, 207 

Asher, tribe of, 175, 219 
Ashkelon, 57 
Asshur, 217 
Assyrians, 21, 79 
Astarte, 74, 196 
Athaliah, 4, 18, 44, 118, 201- 
205, 228, 251 
Augustus, 95 
Aventine Church, 221 
Azizus, 100 


Baal, 196, 198, 204 
Baale-judah, 63 
Babylon, 83, 209 
Bahurim, 63 
Balkis, 192 
Barabbas, 99 

Barak, 31, 172, 173, 174, 175, 
176 


309 


310 


INDEX 


Barnabas, 249, 281 
Barrias, Felix, 213 
Bath-sheba, 12, 68-72 
Beer, 28 

Benjamin, tribe of, 18, 19, 175 
179, 209 

Bennett, W. H., quoted, 16 
Bernice, or Berenice, 99, 100, 
219, 251 
Bethabara, 275 

Bethany, 13, 151, 270, 272, 279 
Beth-ei, 127, 172 
Bethlehem, 149, 185, 187, 188 
Beth-maacah, 190 
Bethuel, 126 
Bethulia, 214, 215, 243 
Betto, Bernardino, 52 
Bezalel, 170 
Bilhah, 11, 239 
Boaz, 45, 184-188 
Botticelli, 218 
Broad, Astor, 187 
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 
quoted, 153 

Browming, Robert, quoted, 72 
Bruck-Lajos, 187 
Bryant, William C., quoted, 
143, 144 

Burgess, Gelett, quoted, 275 
Burns, James D., quoted, 138 
Buzi, priest, 83 
Byron, Lord, quoted, 80, 96, 
182 

Caesarea Philippi, 251 
Caius, Emperor, 161 
Calderon, Philip H., 187 
Caleb, 23, 67 
Calpurnia, 98 
Cana, 13, 147, 151 
Canaanites, 17, 141, 176, 177, 
254 

Capernaum, 107, 246, 249, 250 
Carlyle, Thomas, quoted, 5, 
166 

Carmel, Mount, 197, 198, 235 


Cave of Machpelah, 125, 128 

Cavell, Edith, 4 

Cenchreae, 283 

Chabris, 214 

Charmis, 214 

Chebar, 83 

Childlessness, 25, 26, 110 
Chileab, 67 
Chilion, 187 
Chloe, 283 

‘ ‘ Christus, a Mystery , 9 9 
quoted, 152 
Chuza, 246 

Claudia Procula, 98, 99 
Claudius, Emperor, 221 
Cleopatra, 95 

Coleridge, Hartley, quoted, 265 
Corinth, 221, 283, 285 
Cornelianus, 221 
Corot, 48 

Crashaw, Richard, quoted, 109 
Cushite woman, 166 
Cyrus, 209 

Damaris, 282 
Dan, 175 
Daniel, 93 
Danites, 54 
Darius, 90 

David, 13, 60-67, 179, 189, 
203, 226, 234 

David’s wives, 13, 17, 60-70 
Deborah, nurse, 5, 127, 225 
Deborah, prophetess, 3, 4, 12, 
34, 170-178, 217 
Delilah, 4, 58-60 
Demoniac girl, 290 
Diblaim, 81 
Dinah, 19 

‘ 1 Divine Epigrams, ’ 9 quoted, 
109 

Dobson, W. C. T., 287 
Dorcas, 5, 286, 287 
Doris, 95 

Drinkwater, John, quoted, 85, 
241 


INDEX 


311 


Drusilla, 99, 100, 101 
Dyce, William, 141 


Edersheim, Alfred, quoted, 21, 
44, 113, 219 
Edessa, 251 
Edomites, 11, 30, 70 
Education in home, 38, 39, 
46, 112-115 
Egypt, 11, 17, 52 
Ehud, 171 

Elect lady, 5, 161, 162, 281 
Eli, 44, 136, 137 
Eliezer, 51, 125, 225 
Elijah, 196, 198, 200 
Elimelech, 187 
Elisabeth, 25, 153-155 
Elisha, 12, 235-240 
Elkanah, 42, 136 
En-dor, witch of, 233 
Epaphroditus, 282 
Ephesus, 221, 222 
Ephraim, tribe of, 18, 19, 74, 
133, 172, 175, 187 
Esau, 128, 129, 225 
Esdraelon, 31, 127, 214 
Esther, 4, 86, 209-213 
Ethbaal, 196 

Eunice, 161, 162, 224, 284 
Euodia, 282 
Euphrates, 10, 214 
Eusebius, 266, 283 
Eve, 6, 7, 8, 9, 22 
Ezekiel, 13, 83 
Ezra, 183, 258 


Farrar, Dean F. W., quoted, 
69, 71 

Fattori, Giovanni, 160 
Feasts, 27 
Felix, 99, 100 
Festus, 99, 100 
Finley, John, quoted, 269 
Fosdick, the Rev. Harry E., 
quoted, 184 


Galatians, 240 
Galilee, 263 

Galsworthy, John, quoted, 
104 

Gaza, 58 

Gehazi, 236, 238, 241 
Gentiles, 171, 183, 222 
Genung, John F., quoted, 77 
Gerizim, Mount, 258 
Gershom, 51 
Gibeah, 18, 143 
Gibeonites, 141, 142 
Gideon, 17, 31, 171, 179 
Gilboa, 226, 233 
Gilead, tribe of, 175, 179 
Gomer, 3, 13, 82, 83 
Gounod, 187 
Guercino, 287 
Guido Reni, 130, 269 

Hagar, 119-122, 168, 239 
Haman, 88, 210-213 
Handel, 173 

Hannah, 25, 42, 116, 136- 
139, 224 

Harlots, 58, 140, 179, 228 
Harosheth, 171 
Hasmoneans, 94, 95 
Hastings’s Bible Dictionary, 
quoted, 16, 183 
Hazor, 171 
Heber, 177 
Herod the Great, 94 
Herodians, 94, 118 
Herodias, 4, 157, 158, 219, 
263 

Hezekiah, 14 
Hilkiah, 205 
Hiram, King, 196 
Hobab, 54, 177 
Holofernes, 213-216, 243 
Home life, 6, 10-41 
Hosea, 3, 13, 15, 82, 83 
Huldah, 3, 165, 205-209 
Hur, 168, 169 
Hyrcanus, 94 


312 


INDEX 


‘ ‘ In Memoriam , 1 ’ quoted, 
280 281 

Isaac,’ 12, 13, 22, 122-130 
Isaiah, 13, 14, 15, 79, 80, 
110, 112, 220 
Ishmael, 40, 122, 123 
Israelites, 110, 171, 176, 180, 
231, 234 

Issachar, tribe of, 174, 175, 
179 

Jabin, 171, 177 
Jacob, 11, 16, 128-132, 225, 
257 259 

Jael, 34, 37, 60, 177, 178, 191 
Jair, 179 

Jairus, daughter of, 251-256 
Jedidah, 206 
Jehoiakim, 209 
Jehoida, 202, 204, 227, 228 
Jehoram, 44, 196, 201, 235 
Jehoshebeath, or Jehosheba, 
202, 203, 227 
Jehu, 199, 202, 235 
Jenkins, Burris, 160 
Jephthah, 31, 171, 179-181 
Jephthah’s daughter, 28, 39, 
179-182 
Jeremiah, 20 

Jericho, 229, 231, 232, 272 
Jeroboam’s wife, 75-76 
Jerome, 218 

Jerusalem, 220, 249, 260, 270, 
279, 286 

Jesus, 146-150, 184, 219, 220, 
244-266, 288 

Jethro, 33, 38, 50, 51, 52, 53 
Jezebel, 4, 18, 44, 158, 195- 
201 

Jezreel, 198, 199, 226 
Joab, 69, 73, 189, 190 
Joachim, 92, 93 
Joan of Are, 4 
Joanna, 38, 246 
Joash, 202-205, 227 
Job’s wife, 77, 78 


Jochebed, 5, 133-136 
John the Baptist, 158, 159, 
222 257 

John the disciple, 153, 256, 
268, 276, 281 
Jonathan, 28, 226 
Joppa, 286, 288 
Joram, 199 
Jordan, 230, 241, 275 
Joseph, husband of Mary, 
146, 148 

Joseph of Arimathea, 267 
Joseph, son of Jacob, 49, 50, 
132, 133 

Josephus, quoted, 10, 48, 49, 
64, 81, 132, 158, 161, 168, 
186, 189, 190, 192, 201, 205, 
210, 212, 229, 231, 235 
Joshua, 228, 229, 231 
Josiah, 205, 206 
Jotham, 14 
Judas, 279 

Judgment of Solomon, 140, 
141 

Judith of Bethulia, 4, 34, 191, 
213-219 

Judith’s maid, 243 
Julia, 281 
Julian, 251 
Juvenal, 103 

Kadesh, 168 
Kedesh-naphtali, 173 
Kent, Charles Foster, quoted, 
16, 176, 192 
Kenites, 177 

Kipling, Rudyard, quoted, 118 
Kish, 142 

Kishon, river, 176, 233 

Laban, 31, 38, 126, 131, 132 
Lappidoth, 172 
Lazarus, 13, 270-276, 279 
Leah, 5, 11, 130-133, 239 
Leighton, Lord, 143 
Lemuel, King, 40, 41, 117 


INDEX 


313 


Levite, 18, 105, 203 
Levit.ical laws, 20, 21, 105, 
232, 263 
Lodebar, 227 
Lois, 161, 162, 224, 284 
Longfellow, Henry W., quot¬ 
ed, 152 

Lot’s wife, 32, 47, 48 
Luke, 100, 147, 154, 246, 250, 
256, 262, 272, 282, 290 
Lumby, J. Austin, quoted, 283 
Lydda, 286 

Lydia of Thyatira, 5, 38, 118, 
288-291 
Lysias, 100 

MacDonald, George, quoted, 
288 

McGiffert, Arthur C., quoted, 
285, 286 

Machero prison, 159 
Machur, 175, 227 
Magnificat, 146 
Mahanaim, 141 
Mahlon, 187 
Malachi, 20, 43 
Manasseh, 50, 80, 133, 179, 
206 

Manasses, 215 
Manoah, 38, 54 
Manton, G. Grenville, 77 
Maqueda, 192 
Mariamne, 94, 95 
Mark, 38 

Martha, 13, 32, 38, 244, 270- 
281 

Mary of Magdala, 246, 249, 
261, 266-268 

Mary, mother of Jesus, 13, 27, 
134, 145, 146, 239, 267 
Mary, mother of Mark, 38, 
162, 247, 248, 281 
Mary, sister of Lazarus, 13, 
38, 150, 224, 243, 262, 270- 
281 

Mattan, 204 


Merab, 60, 141 
Merari, 215, 218 
Mesusah, 114 
Micah, 169, 220 
Mic.hal, 60, 61, 227 
Midianites, 51 
Milcom, 74 

Milton, John, quoted, 8, 59 
Miriam, 4, 39, 53, 133, 134, 
165-170, 217 
Mizpah, 19 

Moab, 11, 30, 185, 235 
Moore, Thomas, quoted, 169, 
170 

Mordecai, 88, 89, 209, 211, 
212 

Moses, 16, 20, 51, 52, 165-169 
Mothers in Israel, 110-163 
Murillo, 130, 187, 269 

Naaman’s maid, 5, 240-243 
Naaman’s wife, 84, 85 
Nabal, 13, 64, 65, 66, 67 
Naboth’s vineyard, 198, 199 
Nahor, 126 
Naomi, ]84, 185-188 
Naphtali, children of, 174, 
175 

Nathan, 69 
Nazareth, 146-149 
Nebuchadnezzar, King, 14, 
209, 213 
Nehemiah, 183 
Nicaule, 192 
Nightingale, Florence, 4 
Noah’s wife, 47, 48 
Normand, Ernest, 213 

Obadiah, 106 
Obed, 184 
Oboth, 28 

Omri, 196, 201, 258 
Orpah, 184, 185 
Othniel, 23 

Outrage of Gibeah, 18 
Ozias, 214, 215 


314 


INDEX 


Palestine, 30, 34, 240 
Paltiel, 62, 63 

Papini, Giovanni, quoted, 99, 
265, 278 

“Paradise Lost,” quoted, 8 
Paul, Apostle, 101-106, 117, 
118, 162, 220, 240, 282, 284, 

285, 286, 289 
Penninah, 136, 137 
Peritz, I. J., quoted, 12 
Persis, 281, 284 

Peter, 243, 249, 256, 268, 281, 

286, 287 

Peter’s wife’s mother, 249, 
250 

Phanuel, 219 

Pharaoh’s daughter, 71, 165 
Pharpar, river, 241 
Philip’s daughters, 283 
Philippi, 288, 289 
Philistines, 17, 30 
Phillips, Stephen, quoted, 96, 
182, 183 

Phoebe, 283, 284 
Pickersgill, F. R., 231 
Pilate’s wife, 98, 99 
Pisgah, 28 
Polemo, 102 
Polygamy, 16, 17, 21 
Potiphar’s wife, 47, 49, 50 
Priscilla, or Prisca, 4, 13, 118, 
220, 282, 284 

Purim, feast of, 27, 209, 213 


Queen of Egypt, 192 
Queen of Sheba, 7, 192-195 


Rachel, 11, 12, 25, 31, 110, 
130-133 

Racine, 90, 103, 205 
Raguel, 50 
Rahab, 36, 228-232 
Ramah, 172 
Ramathaim-zophim, 136 
Ramsey, W. M., .146 


Rape of Sabine women, 19 
Raphael, 8, 48, 141 
Rebekah, 11, 22, 125-130 
Rehoboam, 17, 74, 258 
Reuben, tribe of, 175 
Rhoda, 243 

Riddles of the East, 55, 56, 
191 

Rizpah, 141-144 
Rome, 222 
Rooke, T. M., 201 
Rosa, Salvator, 235 
Rossetti, Christina, quoted, 
277, 278 

Royden, Maude, 260 
Rubens, 48, 93, 269 
Rufus, mother of, 281 
Ruth, 45, 183-188 

Sabea, 192 

Salome, 156, 159, 160, 247 
Samaria, woman of, 33, 257, 
258 

“Samson Agonistes, ” quoted, 
59 

Samson’s wives, 54, 55, 57, 58 
Samuel, 32, 116, 137, 232, 233 
Sapphira, 104, 105 
Sarah, 10, 11, 25, 32, 119, 
120-124 

Saul, 60, 61, 62, 141, 179, 227, 
233 

Schubert’s 11 Song of Mir¬ 
iam,’’ 169 

Sennacherib, King, 79, 80 

Shallum, 205 

Shaphan, 207 

Sheba, 190, 191 

Sheba, queen of, 190, 192-195 

Sheehem, 258 

Shunammite woman, 4, 12, 38, 
235-238 

Shunem, 233, 235 
Shushan, 209 
Sidonians, 70 
Silas, 281, 289 


INDEX 


315 


Simeon, 27, 215, 220 
Simon the leper, 262, 270, 274 
Simon the Pharisee, 261, 263, 
264, 265 

Sisera, 37, 171, 173, 174-177 
“Sketches of Jewish Social 
Life,” quoted, 21, 44, 113 
Solomon’s wives, 17, 69, 70-73 
Song of Songs, quoted, 26, 42, 
73 

Sorek, valley of, 58 
St. Augustine, quoted, 274 
Strachey, Marjorie, 68 
Sullivan, Arthur, quoted, 138 
Susanna, 92, 94 
Susanna, friend of Jesus, 246 
Sychar, 257, 261 
Syntyche, 282 

Syro Phenician woman, 253, 
266 

Taanach, 176 
Tabitha, 286, 287 
Talitha Cumi, 257 
Tamar, 12, 19, 32, 189 
Taylor, W. L., 130, 157, 213 
Tekoa, wise woman of, 189, 
190 

Tennyson, Alfred, quoted, 
280, 281 

Thermuthis, Princess, 135, 165 
Thyatira, 288 
Tiberias, 266 
Timnah, 53 

Timothy, 106, 113, 161, 162 
Tintoretto, 218 
Tirvah, 205 
Titian, 269 

Titus, Emperor, 102, 103 
Tobit, 213 
Tola, 179 

Topham, F. W. W., 136 
Tryphena, 281 
Tryphosa, 281 
Turner, Joseph, 142 
Tyre, 253 


Uri, 30, 170 
Uriah, 68, 69, 73 
Uzziah, 14, 81, 82 

Van Dyke, Philip, 93, 187, 
218 

Van Lennep, H. J., 245 
Vashti, Queen, 86, 87, 210 
Veronese, Paul, 48, 93, 269 
Veronica, 251 
Vivian, 58 

“War March of the Priests,” 
204 

Widow of Nain, 107 
Widow of Zarephath, 107 
Widows, 105, 106, 108 
Wise woman of Abel, 189, 190 
Wise woman of Tekoa, 189, 
190 

Witch of En-dor, 233 
Witchcraft, 232 
Woman who was a sinner, 
261, 262 

Woman who touched garment, 
250-253 

Woman of Samaria, 257, 258 
Wordsworth, William, quoted, 
4, 5 

Yahweh, 23, 120 

Zacharias, 154, 155 
Zarephath, 107 

Zebedee’s children, mother of, 
156, 247 

Zebulon, children of, 174, 175 

Zedekiah, 209 

Zela, 142 

Zeresh, 74, 86, 88 

Zerubbabel, 90 

Ziba, 226, 227 

Zilpah, 11, 239 

Zimri, 200 

Zipporah, 50, 52-54, 167 
Zoar, 48 











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